There’s Power In Community
It has been a while during which I have been reflecting on what we need as a community of Black physicians.
I have given a lot of thought about the PROBLEMS we are facing.
We have less autonomy. Privileges we earned from years of struggle (i.e. training) are now easily given to others with less training for less pay. We feel undervalued and unheard. Our job security is not secure.
The work itself, has shifted away from meaningful patient encounters to more hours doing documentation, and billing. We are fighting (and losing) to insurance companies and corporations, whose values do not reflect our own.
We have lost our leverage. We have no unionized voice. Many of us are unhappy with the the new status quo.
We don’t make the rules by which we live. We have lessening control on workload, reimbursement rates, or treatment choices.
And this is just what physicians face in general. Add in being Black.
Black physicians struggle with micro aggressions, discrimination, and sometimes isolation. We have to play respectability politics all while being passed over for promotions, or unfairly targeted for disciplinary actions. We are a working minority in a system not designed for us. We do not generally have the network or safety of generational connections.
Add in the pressure of being the “first” in our family, or the breadwinner, or the ‘representative’ of our race.
Stir in a pandemic, a dangerous political climate, war, widespread injustice, poor health outcomes for our patients of color, and…
LORD! It is a wonder we don’t run screaming or hide under the bed covers every morning.
Perhaps it is the weight of our crushing student loans and responsibilities that keep us moving.
So what is the SOLUTION?
All hope is not lost.
First, we acknowledge that this is the general direction that medicine is going. And no amount of griping or wishful thinking is going to change that.
Second we must take this opportunity to either bloom where we are planted or to uproot ourselves and plant somewhere else.
Each of us needs to decide:
Is this new identity of practice one that works for us? Will we stay in medicine or not?
If we stay, how do we make it work for us?
If we go, what are our options?
If I choose to continue practicing, what environment will allow me to flourish. If I leave, what can I do to still make a large income but with better conditions?
The beauty of community is that we can help each other to navigate the terrain. We are better when we help each other. Advocacy works better in large numbers. And we desperately need to advocate for ourselves and our colleagues.
How do we do this?
The Collective
We NEED to leverage communication and community.
We need to have more discussions about the conditions we work under, how to get ahead, what’s a reasonable salary, etc.
We need each other. Join the collective. Join the directry
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