When code-switching is a requisite on clinical rotations

Code-switchingI accompanied the resident on a ward round as she spoke smoothly and attentively to every patient. Another resident joined us who was of the same ethnicity as her. I watched as her posture relaxed and her voice, still smooth and attentive, revealed the more distinctive peaking of her Indian accent at the end of each word. She rolled in and out of these two mannerisms all day and I took note of each change. “This is what it looks like from the other side,” I thought to myself.She was code-switching—an art, survival tactic, and routine that I knew too well. Code-switching is the act of changing or adjusting your language, accent, style of speech, or behaviour to assimilate to the environment and people present. It is often described as using the “customer service voice,” or “talking white” as my cousins would say. For me, both of these strategies are…
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