A Yale University physician says hospitals should mandate doctors to wear body cameras after experiencing several racist encounters from some of her colleagues, according to the Daily Mail.
Dr. Amanda Calhoun, who is a third-year resident doctor at Yale, said she has seen racist behavior coming from her colleagues toward black patients.
“I have witnessed countless racist behaviors toward Black patients, often coupled with conscious and cruel statements,”
Calhoun, wrote in a recent opinion piece for The Boston Globe.
“I have heard White nurses joke that young Black children will probably join gangs and doctors describe the natural hair of Black people as ‘wild’ and ‘unkempt.’”
The 28-year-old who described herself as an
“expert in the mental health effects of anti-Black racism,”
said in the article that she had
“seen Black patients unnecessarily physically restrained.”
She added,
“I have stood in the emergency department as a Black teenager died from a gunshot wound while White staff chuckled, saying he was ‘just another criminal.’”
Dr. Calhoun said she urges medical institutions to implement body and to ensure a safer and more liable work environment.
“Monitoring the actions of individuals can result in self-checking behavior,”
she wrote.
“If we want to see a reduction in poor health outcomes for Black patients, we must hold health care professionals accountable in real time.”
#Clique, what are your thoughts?