PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Olayiwola, J. Nwando
TI  - Racism in Medicine: Shifting the Power
AID  - 10.1370/afm.1932
DP  - 2016 May 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 267--269
VI  - 14
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/14/3/267.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/14/3/267.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2016 May 01; 14
AB  - Medicine has historically been a field where the provider of the service (physician, nurse) has a significant amount of power as compared with the recipient of the service (the patient). For the most part, this power is relatively consistent, and the power dynamic is rarely disrupted. In this essay, I share a personal experience in which a racist rant by a patient seemingly reverses the power dynamic. As the physician, I faced the realization that I may not have as much power as I believed, but fortunately I had some tools that allowed for my resilience. It is my hope that this paper will strengthen other family physicians and professional minorities that are victims of racism, discrimination, and prejudice for their race, sex, ability, sexual orientation, religion, and other axes of discrimination.