Thread by @drmagdalachery

I want to recenter this #Tulane conversation on #DrDenner. Last night on Clubhouse we heard from students & previous residents who spoke to Dr. Denner’s brilliance, elegance, inspiration, advocacy, & power. It brought me to tears. As they expressed how much she meant to them 🧵

When we talk about the need for representation. This isn’t just about patient outcomes, disparities, & diversity. Our #BlackPhysicians are our champions. They are our means of finding safe spaces, while being in institutions that feel unsafe, toxic, and like terror to trainees 2/

When we enter classes and rooms, we look for those Black faces in leadership. We make eye contact seeking their non-verbal clues that let us know "they see US". We wait at the end of class just to say hello, to make sure we put ourselves on their radar. 3/

We go to them to cry, to be reminded that we have a fighting chance to make it across the graduation stage & beyond. Since...
Many of us do not come from families of doctors.
Many of us are the first.
Many of us are the ones paving the way. 4/

These stories you hear now, thanks to social media are NOT new. Many of us have nightmares from our training, We’re triggered when we see these headlines. We have been called N****r, maids, the help, “you people”, & more.
We have been questioned about our academic capacity. 5/

We work 5x as hard as our counterparts.
We go to work and school walking on eggshells.
We are told our BLACKNESS will not be "accepted" here so in order to succeed reject who you are.
Which then leaves "US" unrecognizable by our patients, our community, our family & friends. 6/

This journey becomes isolating, heavy, and traumatic.
But then we see our Dr. Denner figures in positions of leadership...IT GIVES US HOPE. IT GIVES US PROMISE
We get a chance to breathe in a place working hard to steal our last breath. 7/

See champions like #DrSusanMoore #DrDenner #DrKhoury @ayshakhoury & many others, we just COULD NOT afford to lose. It breaks us. They were our "safe spaces" in unsafe academia & toxic health care. We needed them. 8/8
#DNRTulane #MedTwitter #BlackMedTwitter #BlackWomen