Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy, M.D.
A Review By: SY
One doctor's passionate and profound memoir of his experience grappling with racial identity, bias, and the unique health problems of Black Americans.
When Damon Tweedy first enters the halls of Duke University Medical School on a full scholarship, he envisions a bright future where his segregated, working-class background will become largely irrelevant. Instead he finds that he has joined a new world where race is front and center. When one of his first professors mistakes him for a maintenance worker, it is a moment that crystallizes the challenges he will face throughout his early career. Making matters worse, in lecture after lecture the common refrain for numerous diseases resounds: "more common in blacks than whites."
In riveting, honest prose, Black Man in a White Coat examines the complex ways in which both Black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. As Tweedy transforms from student to practicing physician, he discovers how often race influences his encounters with patients. Through their stories, he illustrates the complex social, cultural, and economic factors at the root of most health problems in the Black community. These elements take on greater meaning when Tweedy finds himself diagnosed with a chronic disease far more common among Black people. In this powerful, moving, and compassionate book, Tweedy deftly explores the challenges confronting Black doctors and the disproportionate health burdens faced by Black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to better treatment and more compassionate care.
Review Notes:
Audio Book Publication Year: 2015
An installment in a Series? No
Narrator (s): Corey Allen
“On one level the book is a straightforward memoir; on another it’s a thoughtful, painfully honest, multi-angled, constant self-interrogation about himself and about the health implications of being black.” ―Sarah Lyall, The New York Times
This was a fascinating listen from a Black medical professional of humble beginnings, who candidly recounts his feelings of inadequacy and sense of belonging in an overwhelmingly white environment at Duke University Medical School. In this retrospective of his medical training and early career, Tweedy is transparent about the anger and unrest he felt in witnessing Black patients experience discrimination from medical professionals, and at the same time, was challenged to temper his own biases to develop compassion for the rural, and often poor, patients of color he served.
Allen's tone and style are appropriate for a memoir of this kind, and while it was a little flat at times, I enjoyed listening to his delivery overall.
Reading Recommendation? Yes!
Rating: 4 (It’s lit!)
Content Warnings? None
