Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Annals of Family Medicine
  • My alerts
Annals of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Follow annalsfm on Twitter
  • Visit annalsfm on Facebook
DiscussionReflections

Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power

J. Nwando Olayiwola
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2016, 14 (3) 267-269; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1932
J. Nwando Olayiwola
Center for Excellence in Primary Care, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California
MD, MPH, FAAFP
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: OlayiwolaJ@fcm.ucsf.edu
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Published eLetters

If you would like to comment on this article, click on Submit a Response to This article, below. We welcome your input.

Submit a Response to This Article
Compose eLetter

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Author Information
First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'.
Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'.
Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com
Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'.
Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.
Statement of Competing Interests
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

Vertical Tabs

Jump to comment:

  • Beautifully written
    Gray N Dawson
    Published on: 31 May 2016
  • Author response Re:Bravo
    J. Nwando Olayiwola
    Published on: 27 May 2016
  • Author response Re:Powerful!
    J. Nwando Olayiwola
    Published on: 27 May 2016
  • Author response Re:Thank you for your vulnerability
    J. Nwando Olayiwola
    Published on: 27 May 2016
  • White Coat as Armor
    Kristin A. Gates
    Published on: 26 May 2016
  • Thank you for your vulnerability
    Diana Wu
    Published on: 24 May 2016
  • Powerful!
    Cynthia Haq
    Published on: 23 May 2016
  • Bravo
    Colleen T. Fogarty
    Published on: 18 May 2016
  • Published on: (31 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Beautifully written
    Beautifully written
    • Gray N Dawson, Family Physician

    I will start with saying I am not black. Which means that as much as I appreciate and want to understand the challenges you have faced, I have never experienced them and will not be able to fully understand. It grieves me that you have to face such vile comments and are treated so differently in and out of your superhero cape of a white coat. There are many types of frustrating and hurtful encounters that shape us as p...

    Show More

    I will start with saying I am not black. Which means that as much as I appreciate and want to understand the challenges you have faced, I have never experienced them and will not be able to fully understand. It grieves me that you have to face such vile comments and are treated so differently in and out of your superhero cape of a white coat. There are many types of frustrating and hurtful encounters that shape us as physicians, and can lead some unnecessarily to discouragement,, some to giving up entirely. You DO deserve to be where you are, perhaps more so than I having faced such adversity and yet still maintaining love, compassion, and even understanding of the brokenness of those saying such awful statements. While I face different discouragements, I too have those other patients that speak encouragement and support, something not often discussed in the medical literature, but a force so strong it gives me the similar resilience to keep going. Thank you for taking the time to write this beautifully written piece that gives us as the greater Family Medicine community, an opportunity to groan with you about this encounter, and affirm you as a fellow physician. Yes, you are a black woman, who deserves a tremendous amount of respect given the challenges you faced to get to where you are in medicine. And now even greater respect for sharing so vulnerably the struggle in this encounter. Thank you for sharing!

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (27 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Author response Re:Bravo
    Author response Re:Bravo
    • J. Nwando Olayiwola, Director

    Thank you Dr. Fogarty for your kind words. I too hope that this experience will ignite much needed dialogue and action around these issues.

    Nwando

    Competing interests: None declared

    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (27 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Author response Re:Powerful!
    Author response Re:Powerful!
    • J. Nwando Olayiwola, Director

    Thank you Dr. Haq! It is so wonderful for you to leave a comment. I appreciate it!

    Nwando

    Competing interests: None declared

    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (27 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Author response Re:Thank you for your vulnerability
    Author response Re:Thank you for your vulnerability
    • J. Nwando Olayiwola, Director

    Thank you for the comments! I really appreciate the feedback and I am hopeful that this paper will spark important dialogue!

    Competing interests: None declared

    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (26 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for White Coat as Armor
    White Coat as Armor
    • Kristin A. Gates, Family Medicine Physician

    While articles such as the February 25th, 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article "Dealing with Racist Patients," have highlighted the challenge of caring for patients with strongly held prejudices; Dr. Olayiwola's reflection in "Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power" does something different. It sets this pain in its true context. As family physicians, we have all dealt with difficult patients. We have watched e...

    Show More

    While articles such as the February 25th, 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article "Dealing with Racist Patients," have highlighted the challenge of caring for patients with strongly held prejudices; Dr. Olayiwola's reflection in "Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power" does something different. It sets this pain in its true context. As family physicians, we have all dealt with difficult patients. We have watched even our best efforts trivialized by a patient's disrespect. So while the frank racist actions of the patient reflected in this editorial were clearly wrong, I would argue to focus on this would cause one to miss the deeper, but perhaps more subtle pain of "needing" one's white coat for protection. This reflection does more than demonstrate the impact of racial wounds; it highlights the pain experienced when one realizes that their armor can be penetrated.

    Dr. Olayiwola begins her reflection noting the tangible difference in how she is treated with and without her white coat. A mere change of clothing could not alter her essence, but it could alter perceptions. Something as simple as a garment should not make this level of impact, however minorities have born witness to several painful reminders that it does. In covering the circumstances of Trayvon Martin's death, news commentator Geraldo Rivera famously stated "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was." If hoodies can make us villains, then it is not so strange to believe that white coats could make us heroes. Thus, when a black doctor is summarily dismissed on the basis of skin color alone the pain felt is deeper than the sum of its parts. It is a poignant reminder that there are biases that neither status nor education can protect you from.

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (24 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Thank you for your vulnerability
    Thank you for your vulnerability
    • Diana Wu, Family Medicine Resident

    I want to thank Dr. Olayiwola for her vulnerability in writing this powerful essay. It is difficult for physicians and especially people of color to reveal that microaggressions are often deeply hurtful. I also appreciated that Dr. Olayiwola humanized this patient while sharing her story. She eloquently and directly addressed the ever-changing nature of power and privilege that physicians grapple with.

    Competin...

    Show More

    I want to thank Dr. Olayiwola for her vulnerability in writing this powerful essay. It is difficult for physicians and especially people of color to reveal that microaggressions are often deeply hurtful. I also appreciated that Dr. Olayiwola humanized this patient while sharing her story. She eloquently and directly addressed the ever-changing nature of power and privilege that physicians grapple with.

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (23 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Powerful!
    Powerful!
    • Cynthia Haq, Professor

    Dear Dr. Olayiwola,

    Thank you for your courage, your determination and power to confront the micro- and macro-aggressions of racism in our world.

    You're making a difference every day.

    With Sincere Regards,

    Cindy Haq MD

    Competing interests: None declared

    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (18 May 2016)
    Page navigation anchor for Bravo
    Bravo
    • Colleen T. Fogarty, Family Physician

    Bravo to Dr. Olayiwola for the courage to share a patient encounter of such vitriol, and for illuminating her experiences with daily racism in this nation. Her story should educate all of us in healthcare to the serious impact of racism on our colleagues and patients. I especially appreciate her reflections on the role of the physician as powerful, and her desire to serve the "less powerful" as well as receive the respect...

    Show More

    Bravo to Dr. Olayiwola for the courage to share a patient encounter of such vitriol, and for illuminating her experiences with daily racism in this nation. Her story should educate all of us in healthcare to the serious impact of racism on our colleagues and patients. I especially appreciate her reflections on the role of the physician as powerful, and her desire to serve the "less powerful" as well as receive the respect she is due based on her training and expertise, and that we all deserve based on our shared humanity.

    Thank you for writing this piece; I hope it will be read and discussed widely.

    Sincerely, Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, MSc.

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Annals of Family Medicine: 14 (3)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 14 (3)
Vol. 14, Issue 3
May/June 2016
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
  • In Brief
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Annals of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Annals of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Annals of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
2 + 0 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power
J. Nwando Olayiwola
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2016, 14 (3) 267-269; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1932

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Get Permissions
Share
Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power
J. Nwando Olayiwola
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2016, 14 (3) 267-269; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1932
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • A Follow-Up to "The Family Tree Spreads its Limbs: National Academy of Medicine Family Physician New Members 2021"
  • Systemic racism and health disparities: Statement from editors of family medicine journals
  • Systemic Racism and Health Disparities: A Statement From Editors of Family Medicine Journals
  • Systemic Racism and Health Disparities: A Statement From Editors of Family Medicine Journals
  • In This Issue: Decisions, Decisions
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • When the Death of a Colleague Meets Academic Publishing: A Call for Compassion
  • Let’s Dare to Be Vulnerable: Crossing the Self-Disclosure Rubicon
  • Not Like They Used To: The Decline of Procedural Competency in Medical Training
Show more Reflections

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Person groups:
    • Vulnerable populations
  • Other research types:
    • Professional practice
  • Core values of primary care:
    • Relationship
  • Other topics:
    • Communication / decision making
    • Disparities in health and health care

Keywords

  • racism
  • racial discrimination
  • minority groups
  • prejudice
  • medicine
  • health care delivery

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Early Access
  • Plain-Language Summaries
  • Multimedia
  • Podcast
  • Articles by Type
  • Articles by Subject
  • Supplements
  • Calls for Papers

Info for

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Job Seekers
  • Media

Engage

  • E-mail Alerts
  • e-Letters (Comments)
  • RSS
  • Journal Club
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Subscribe
  • Family Medicine Careers

About

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board & Staff
  • Sponsoring Organizations
  • Copyrights & Permissions
  • Contact Us
  • eLetter/Comments Policy

© 2025 Annals of Family Medicine