By Shenelle Wilson, Photo: Adobe, STAT, March 10, 2022
Some say the lack of Black physicians is a pipeline problem, with too few Black people going to medical school. I say it’s a gaslighting problem.
The health of Black Americans lags behind that of white Americans, driven in part by the underrepresentation of Black physicians in the medical field. Numerous studies have found that patients of color experience better health care outcomes and higher satisfaction when cared for by racially and ethnically concordant physicians. Despite the existence of pipeline programs designed to increase the number of Black physicians, only 5% of all doctors identify as Black, in stark contrast to the number of Black individuals in America who account for 14% of the population. While there are multiple causes for this discrepancy, one reason is that Black trainees represent 20% of all residents dismissed from their training programs before completion.
The consequences of gaslighting, a form of emotional abuse that causes people to question their reality, may account for the outsized attrition seen among Black residents. I’ve been studying gaslighting among medical trainees. I’ve also experienced it.
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