Addressing Implicit Bias to Acknowledge the Experience of Under-represented in Medicine Colleagues and Improve Patient Care.

Abstract

This article recounts episodes of implicit bias I have experienced as an emergency physician and explores how we can move in a better direction to benefit everyone. I was a toddler when my family moved to the US from Jamaica. A few years after that, I announced that I was going to be a doctor. I made this decision based on zero data. At the time, I had no idea that only 1/3 of 1% of the US population are physicians. And of that number only 2% are Black women. I walk into every patient room the same way, wearing blue scrubs & a long white coat with my name embroidered on it - visibly rubbing some hand sanitizer in so they know I care about spreading germs, a stethoscope hangs on a holster from my scrub pants and a name tag is clipped to my chest with my photo with a second bright orange tag with the word DOCTOR in all caps. "Hello, I'm Dr. Ennis, I'm the emergency physician. What brings you here today?" I greet everyone in the room & shake hands if offered and then I pause. Deliberately. I pause because the first and only thing they saw when I walked in the room was a black woman with dreads. Despite the costume, the optics I present do not say doctor. Addressing racism as it impacts the health of our patients and the sense of belonging for all our colleagues demands true effort & focus.