‘We have to do a better job’: How structural racism in medicine harms both doctors and patients
Early in her medical career, physician Rachel Issaka encountered a liver transplant patient who was surprised that she, a Black woman, was one of their treating physicians. All of the other physicians in the same room were white, but none said anything.
Today, Issaka is an assistant professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington in Seattle, specializing in gastroenterology and hepatology. But even years later, that moment has remained with her. Last week, Issaka wrote an essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association urging all medical professionals to call out and dismantle structural racism in medicine.
