SAN FRANCISCO – When Jessica Isom, MD, MPH, and her colleagues noticed the absence of good role modeling about how to address race and racism in interactions with supervisors at their long-term care clinic, they conducted a research study.
“Now, we’re working on rolling out what those solutions might be for addressing this gap in the education,” said Dr. Isom, a PGY-4 resident at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Many of the issues Dr. Isom and her colleagues found are reminiscent of those identified almost 50 years ago by Billy E. Jones, MD, and his colleagues. Their article (1970 Dec; 127[6]:798-803) focusing on the problems of black residents in predominantly white institutions was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Constance E. Dunlap, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.
In this video, Dr. Dunlap interviews Dr. Isom about her experiences with both supervisors and patients on issues tied to race and racism – and examines possible solutions.
In one case, Dr. Isom said she created an opening for discussion with a supervisor by advising him to read the book White Fragility (Beacon Press, 2018). “He read the book,” Dr. Isom said. “And And he’s thinking about these things now as a white man and his relationship to racism. So that’s sort of a positive outcome from having that conversation in the first place.”
In another case involving a patient who declined treatment from Dr. Isom and an Asian male medical student, Dr. Isom said she respected the patient’s wishes and walked out of the room. When she shared the experience with her team, the incident was not addressed.
Dr. Isom’s experiences reflects that of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in the United States, Dr. Dunlap said. “I think about being in junior high school and reading ... and doing my own study outside of school and that has carried through college, medical school, and even in residency – and definitely psychoanalytic training – where psychoanalysts like Frantz Fanon, Frances Cress Welsing, even Dorothy Holmes ... were not included in the mainstream curriculum.” However, those thinkers are included in some curricula now.
“This is an example of how medicine and psychoanalysis have been functioning in parallel with the way the country functions,” Dr. Dunlap said. “This is a huge blind spot.”
Dr. Isom worked on the research study with fellow residents* Myra Mathis, MD; Flavia DeSouza, MHS, MD; and Natalie Lastra, MD. Dr. Isom is member of the American Psychiatric Association Assembly as the area 1 representative for resident fellow members. She also is one of the chief residents of diversity and inclusion, and a codirector of the social justice and health equity curriculum at the department of psychiatry at Yale. Dr. Dunlap is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with more than 25 years’ experience in clinical care, psychiatric education, patient advocacy, and community outreach. She is a member of the APA assembly representing the Washington Psychiatric Society. Dr. Isom and Dr. Dunlap had no disclosures.
*CLARIFICATION, 5/22/2019