Saturday, November 28, 2015

Black man in a white coat

Black man in a white coat: a doctor's reflections on race and  medicine / Damon Tweedy 294 pg.

Damon Tweedy accepted a scholarship to Duke medical school and from day one has the feeling of being an outsider.  His classmates are almost all out of more exclusive schools, they are almost all from economically better off backgrounds and most are white.  Tweedy begins to dread the part of his education that deals with how much more prevalent and deadly diseases and medical conditions are to the African American population. Every time this comes up, he feels like the class turns to look at him.  But then, when he starts his clinical experience, he sees this disparity first hand...and it is much more uncomfortable in real life than just hearing the statistics.  Tweedy's perspective is interesting. He is diagnosed with a chronic disease that is more common among African Americans and can relate all the more with his black patients that are struggling to be healthier.  Some of the stories in this book are universal...the struggle to fit in, the struggle to do well, the situations where the inexperienced doctor is giving advice to the older, more experienced patient.  I like the way Tweedy admits he doesn't know it all.

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