May 2015 EOM: #blacklivesmatter

Greetings talented residents, 

I write this afternoon hours after 6 Baltimore police officers were charged with murder and homicide in the death of Mr. Freddie Gray last week. There have been a number of high profile cases of police vs. African American citizens recently. We, as physicians, have commitments to the health of our individual patients, but also to advocate for the health of the general public. Bias and racism is pervasive and impacts a vast multitude of health issues for our patients and community. 

To stimulate some discussion, please review these two (brief) articles: 

In the first article, the NYC Health Commissioner makes this impassioned plea:

"As a mother of black children, I feel a personal urgency for society to acknowledge racism's impact on the everyday lives of millions of people in the United States and elsewhere and to act to end discrimination. As a doctor and New York City's health commissioner, I believe that health professionals have much to contribute to that debate and process. Let's not sit on the sidelines."

The second article makes this point: 

 "For the sake of not only black lives but all lives, we should heed our (medical) students' call to examine the implicit biases in our academic medical centers. ... But most important, we should talk about bias, with our students, our faculties, our staff, our administrations, and our patients. Maybe then we'll have a chance to finally eliminate the racial health care disparities that persist in the United States.”

Lets talk.