This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Reflection
I feel if I were older and had the same experience, maybe it could’ve gone differently. I would not have demanded respect, but I feel the doctor would realize to himself: hey, this woman shouldn’t be ignored or not given any attention.
The Medical Experience For Minorities
Many Black individuals to this day are not given equivalent medical care as their white counterparts. Maybe if my parents had been there at the doctor’s with me, he would have given me more attention. Maybe if I were of different skin color or looked different, the doctor would have granted me eye contact. Maybe he was dealing with unconscious bias. Maybe he was having a bad day.
But none of these are viable excuses for not looking at me one single time; the only thing that caught his attention was his notes. I am who I am, and the doctor treated me like I was nothing and no one.
I’m not bitter. I don’t classify all white and/or male doctors as bad. However, the experience makes me wonder about people with even less privilege than me who only have a white doctor to see. Are they being cared for with 100% quality? Are they seen, or are they invisible? Are there issues seen, or are their issues ignored? These are questions I still wonder about since my experience many years ago.
Action Required
To this day, I hear unfortunate stories about Black people who do not receive quality healthcare; I know other factors go into this, but if you’re in the healthcare field, can you ensure you treat minorities well and with quality?
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