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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt Happened Again. Another Flight Crew Can’t Believe a Black Woman Is Actually a Doctor
As if this weren't enough:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028230731
here we go again!
https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/it-happened-again-another-delta-flight-crew-cant-believe-a-black-woman-is-actually-a-doctor-205952003.html
As I settled in to watch a movie and read a book, about 1 hour into our flight over the intercom, a flight attendant requested a doctor or nurse to report to front of cabin to assist a passenger. When duty calls it calls even if you are 30,000 feet in air ...
The flight attendant didnt believe I was a doctor and told me to have a seat while 2 nurses provided medical care to the passenger....
What exactly is it that inspires seemingly normal people to prevent qualified individuals from offering their professional assistance? In life-or-death situations, do we really have time to be prejudiced?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I'm an attorney, and have a license to that effect in my wallet. Do doctors not have similar things?
Granted, there is no reason to believe that someone who identifies themselves as such in a medical emergency is not a doctor, but I'm curious to know what doctors licensed in various states carry around with them.
WillowTree
(5,325 posts)Exilednight
(9,359 posts)rare cases, although this may have changed, doctors in the Army did not have to have a medical license - just a medical degree.
Journeyman
(15,035 posts)casual beach clothes, or if a male hadn't shaved in a few days), it wouldn't take very long talking with them to determine their level of education and knowledge. And even if the cabin crew were completely clueless, the two nurses would recognize a doctor's presence and bearing no matter how the doctor appeared. Very parochial, to say the least. . .
Skittles
(153,164 posts)I don't think I've been treated by a doctor that would be considered "white" in... gosh I don't know how long. Ah, wait, I did have some skin tags removed by a dermatologist who was "white".
But my primary care physicians have been Indian and Filipino, and I've been treated by specialists in the last several decades by doctors who were originally from Pakistan, Jamaica and Ghana.
And despite their best efforts I continue to live.
My experience may be limited, but if I were to go on my personal history with physicians a white male would be the person I'd suspect to be least likely to be a doctor.
I find it hard to believe that someone would assume a self-identified physician were not an actual physician based upon appearances. Maybe its a regional thing, but the hospitals where I live are not staffed by some uniform contingent of white people.
uponit7771
(90,346 posts)... "look" at all and ID doesn't help in those situations because of cognoscente dissidence even with well meaning people.
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)An African American man who was technically in management at the phone company, but was actually more of a tech support guy, gave me a ride home from a company school. We were in a car painted in the company colors complete with logo. Before we started out he took his company ID card and DL out and put them on the dashboard.
Me, the privileged white guy gave him a questioning look. He said when your skin is a certain color you want you credentials very handy. I was saddened about what this man I considered a friend had to live with everyday. The closest experience that I had was as a teen. If people assume a white teen is up to no good, it must be way worse for teens of color.
uponit7771
(90,346 posts)I haven't seen a white male doctor since the 70's although my dentists have long been white males. And no, a female / black dentist would not "shock" me.
uponit7771
(90,346 posts)mrmpa
(4,033 posts)could ask for self-identification as meical personnel (and if you're willing to assist in an emergency) when you make your reservation. I know, I know, some asshole who isn't a doctor might so identify him/herself, but there's got to be a way to do this.
Also the stupidity and inherent bias/racism recently shown by airline personnel has got to stop. To be honest, if it had been a relative of mine and I learned there was a doctor on board who was not permitted to help my loved one, I'd sue the airline.
Sgent
(5,857 posts)some states issue business card sized licenses (not all), but they are usually just a business card printer type card, not an ID card.
The reality is that international flights are the only time physicians have to prove identity. A normal DL or passport + internet connection can confirm the id of physicians easily.
https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/ has every physician and other provider which bills any insurance company or medicare listed.
malaise
(269,022 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Response to jberryhill (Reply #1)
kestrel91316 This message was self-deleted by its author.
matt819
(10,749 posts)My son's first pediatrician was an African American woman, about five years out of med school. She was wonderful and supportive. Glad to say that I never gave a thought to her race or gender. If she was good enough for Children's hospital in Washington, she was good enough for us. I don't know what her experience was as a young African American woman doctor in the 1980s. But we were happy and I remember her still.
Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)on Lufthansa, when she responded to an 'is there a doctor on board?' announcement. She told me that the flight attendant was overtly skeptical when she responded and presented herself as a physician. In response, she simply pulled out identification from her wallet, held it up to the attendant's face, then doctor-voice directed the attendant to take her to the patient. (She told me that the man who had taken ill did not seem at all concerned about having her help him.)
She practices in a small city in the PNW, and as it happened, she was interviewed by a local newspaper's travel reporter right after this particular trip. (She's a bit travel-mad!) She made a point of mentioning the incident and the attitude of flight attendant, which she certain was due to her being black and a woman.
Hugin
(33,148 posts)I don't care what the color of their skin, gender, and/or religion is, if there is a Doctor available and they think they can help me, get them to me pronto.
Edit to add: This is also true of; CNPs, PAs, RNs, and any other practicing health care professional.
Thanks in advance,
Hugin.
Hugin
(33,148 posts)Ilsa
(61,695 posts)but something emotional or psychiatric. In some instances, I'd rather have a nurse that uses noninvasive, proven therapeutic communication skills vs a doctor that says, "give him a valium" or says something condescending (something I've seen with some older white male doctors). The airline probably can't discuss the nature of the emergency.
In any event, I think the attendants should have kept the doctor nearby in case the situation worsened medically. If things were improving with the two nurses attending the problem, it could be unwise inviting another stranger into the patient's situation.
We really don't know enough about the situation to make a judgment beyond the flight attendant's bigotry in refusing to recognize that this minority woman was an M.D.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Both a fully qualified doctors, but there is a difference.
And why was this in the "beauty" section of yahoo, instead of in the news section?
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)Worthless. I dropped them from my news rotation months ago.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)The "writing" is often (usually) very poor.
This story did not belong in the "beauty" section, and it speaks volumes that they put it there.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)totally worthless, dropped them during last election.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 17, 2016, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)
of this airline is in the planning stage. I think I'll look into that. AA and anyone else if there is any other way to expeditiously reach your destination on another carrier, please do it. If not.....well you got to do what you got to do.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)or to a lesser extent, Detroit, the Twin Cities, and Salt Lake City.