For those questioning my direct and blunt approach to #BLM,
I’m tired of #AntiBlackRacism
I’m tired of explaining it
I’m tired of calling it bias
I’m tired of treading lightly so others don’t get uncomfortable and shut down
I’m tired of having “the talk” with my kids
I’m tired of the helplessness we all feel because racism is too complex to deal with
I’m tired of the expectation that it’s up to Black and Brown people to figure it out
I’m tired of having to tell people it’s ok to say Black
I’m tired of the lip service that is diversity and inclusion
I’m tired of it all
I’m direct because Black people are dying and we, in the medical community, can’t see it
I’m direct because we’re tired of dying.
I’m direct because lip service is no longer sufficient
I’m direct because we need to get past the language barriers so we can work towards solutions.
As Toni Morrison said, “The very serious function of racism … is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.”
Let’s not be distracted by explaining our reason for being.
Let’s get to work.
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About three years ago, attending a women’s empowerment conference made me swear off of going to anymore women’s empowerment conferences…a 🧵
It began as a great conference focused on empowering women to advance in medicine. All the gaps were addressed. Gender pay gap, research funding gap, awards gap, leadership gap. Great! We’re moving beyond pay disparity!
Or so I thought.
After hearing the keynote and most of the prime time lectures, I was perplexed. I know all these topics are important. But as this was a conference filled with women from all backgrounds, I felt there was something missing.
Friends of #MedTwitter
We talk a lot about the dearth of Black docs & the leaky pipeline but not how academia pushes out the ones who actually make it to med school & beyond. Many URiM students/trainees suffer in silence due to a lack of support & the real threat of retaliation.
We’re working with a resident who is the only Black trainee &one of two IMGs who is experiencing an extremely hostile work environment. We’re looking for program directors, assoc program directors & anyone else who can help us in assisting this trainee.
We would appreciate any and all assistance. Please reach out to anyone of us through DM
For my chief year grand rounds presentation, a mentor suggested that I use it as an opportunity to share my experience going through surgery training and having children. He suggested I share both the good the bad.
I loved this idea. It felt like we would be doing an M&M conference on our lived experiences as humans going through professional and personal challenges. I liked the idea that what was seen as a “problem” (pregnant surgery resident)...
became an opportunity for us to change our culture to be more inclusive. I wanted to include the fact that we were able to increase awareness of surgery boards accommods for pregnancy during training among our residents, and as a result more women were considering fam planning.
When we say minoritized and racialized people in medicine, regardless of position, are afraid to speak up because of #retaliation,
👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 is what we mean.
Academia will destroy someone’s career and livelihood before they even think about becoming introspective or take any responsibility for their bias and racism.
Dr. @ayshakhoury does not deserve this. Her students don’t deserve to lose their teacher. And her community doesn’t deserve losing a good physician.
I got a call from one of our NPs that a neurosurgeon was berating him and the icu nurses about why his postop patient was in the icu. He brought one to tears and was yelling at the charge as well. So I called.
Nsg: Who the hell transferred my postop pt to the ICU?
Me: I did.
Nsg: Who gave you permission to transfer my patient?
Me: I’m the admitting physician. You’re a consultant. Are you aware of their other injuries?
Nsg: Listen, hun, I don’t know who you think you are but...
Me: First, don’t call me hun. Second, it’s Dr. Hussein