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Black Man in a White Coat
Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine | Damon Tweedy, M.D.
15 posts | 16 read | 30 to read
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.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. - For readers of Atul Gawande, Sandeep Jauhar, and Pauline Chen
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review
JenniferEgnor
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Pickpick

Dr. Tweedy tells how he has experience racism in healthcare as a patient, a medical student, and as a doctor.
This is another conversation we need to be having.
Highly recommended.

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JenniferEgnor
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Appearance and dress matter for everyone in how they‘re perceived, but the prevailing wisdom among black people is that it‘s much more important for us than it is for others. I certainly learned my lesson. Since that day, whenever I have an appointment or tag along with a family member to a doctor who doesn‘t already know me, I put on a sport coat, a tie too. I‘m certain to wear a collared shirt and slacks, a pair of nice matching socks.

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Megabooks
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A fascinating look at race & medicine at my alma mater, Duke. Tweedy starts at the role race plays in admissions then moves on to the assumptions people had about him as a student. As an intern & resident at Duke (in heavily Black Durham), he discusses how he was often matched with Black patients and how that affected his & their treatment. There were many insights into patient care and racism once he specialized in psychiatry, too. #audiobook

Come-read-with-me You are choosing books that MUST all be put on my TBR! Stacked!!! 3y
Megabooks @Come-read-with-me thanks!!! 💜 I‘ve definitely read some great ones this year so far!! 3y
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Cinfhen Sounds fascinating ❣️ 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen it was! 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen and I was asleep, but I popped awake at the motion sensor on the door going off, so I‘m up doing some online shopping. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I got good at waking easily and being alert when I used to be on call...not so good at going back to sleep! 3y
Cinfhen Oh no!!! You NEED to sleep / buying anything good??!!! 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen no books, just some leggings for sleeping. Not a huge fan of leggings for wearing out, but I find them really comfortable for sleep. I checked my favorite store and the kind I like were 35% off. I‘m a sucker for a deal! 😂 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen plus middle of the night/early morning is sometimes the only peace I get from mom! I get my best reading done then. 3y
Cinfhen Oh Gd!! Mothers are such complicated beings ~ I love mine but she definitely drives me CRAZY 3y
MallenNC He‘s doing a virtual talk at Meredith College (where I work) this week. https://www.meredith.edu/news/spring-convocation-to-focus-on-issues-in-race-and-... 3y
Megabooks @MallenNC thanks for sharing! I‘ve put it in my calendar! Can you register if you‘re not affiliated with Meredith? (edited) 3y
MallenNC @Megabooks Yes. It‘s open to the public so you should be able to register. 3y
Megabooks @MallenNC thanks! I did register. 👍🏻 3y
93 likes2 stack adds14 comments
review
MallenNC
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The author of this book went to med school and practices at Duke, which is near where I live, so I was very interested in it. The book is exactly what the subtitle says, a doctor‘s reflection on race and medicine. He weaves his own story and those of patients he meets with a broader context. This was my #DoubleSpin book for March. I‘ve had it since I saw him interview Jodi Picoult at a book event. #AboutADoctor #MagnificentMarch

OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚🩺 4y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sounds good!! 4y
TheAromaofBooks Great review!! 4y
29 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
MallenNC
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I love to read memoirs, both by celebrities and by less well known people with interesting lives. These are some I have read recently (bottom row) or that I‘m reading in March (top two). #MemoirMonday #MagnificientMarch

OriginalCyn620 🙌🏻📚❤️ 4y
marleed I love memoirs too! 4y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
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BooksCatsMaine
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In my non-litsy life I'm a prof of psychiatric genetics. I spend a lot of time asking 'who gets psychiatric diagnoses, and why?' Some of it is genetics- but as this book brilliantly illustrates, a lot of your risk for disease (& psychiatric disease) is influenced by society, by race, and by racism. A must-read for clinicians, scientists, and anyone who wants to understand our broken healthcare system...

Book 24 of #52Booksin2018

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Kitta
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Very interesting book, I‘d highly recommend it, even if you‘re not in the medical field. The author describes some of his experiences as a black doctor working in the US, including experiencing racism and giving insight into health disparities between races due to socioeconomic class and access to healthcare.

BarbaraTheBibliophage Have it on my TBR shelf—glad to see your review. Thanks! I just bought one that might be a good fit with this one. 6y
Kitta @BarbaraTheBibliophage that looks really good, thanks for the recommendation! 6y
24 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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cdreincarnate
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An excellent book about medicine and race. Tweedy discusses the disparities between how black patients (and doctors) are treated compared to their white counterparts, the difficulty many black people face when trying to obtain medical care at all, the role black culture often plays in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and ways we can all consciously overcome our prejudices (white and black, doctors and patients). Definitely recommend this one.

8little_paws I really liked this one too! 6y
4 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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saguarosally
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What happens when I combine beer, books, and Visa. It‘s only sixteen books. 🤷🏻‍♀️

BookNAround And you didn‘t show them all? You monster! 😂😂😂 6y
readordierachel Hey, people do way worse things because of beer. Books are always a good idea! 6y
mrozzz @ReadOrDieRachel certainly has a point!! Also, was it Book Outlet?? 6y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage Only sixteen ... we get you ... 😎📚😍 6y
saguarosally @BookNAround I‘m saving them for later. 6y
saguarosally @ReadOrDieRachel Yes, and I have done worse things thanks to beer. 👀 6y
saguarosally @mrozzz I had to buy enough for free shipping! 6y
BarbaraTheBibliophage High five on restraint! 🤣🤣 6y
mrozzz Been there!! 😉 6y
73 likes10 comments
blurb
EchoLogical
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Is it really #diversity if I read lots of books by black people? Damn skippy, it is.
Sidenote: I met Dr. Tweedy at the #DBF in 2015 and he signed the copy of his book included in this pic.
#anditsaugust @RealLifeReading

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Shay
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A black doctor reflects on his experiences in a predominantly white profession, and examines the health disparities in care for African Americans. Tweedy takes a cautious approach, but overall an interesting read. Full review: goo.gl/owtEuy

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MallenNC
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Saw the author in conversation with Jodi Picoult and now I've added two more books to my reading list.

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Mcoun
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Dr. Damon Tweedy's memoir about his medical career, from his time as a medical student at Duke University to establishing his medical practice as a psychiatrist. Through various stories, he illustrates how racial prejudice affected his own life as well as the lives of his patients. Some of the stories are uplifting, others heartbreaking. But, they all paint the picture of how racism affects health in profound ways.

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Nici
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Dr. Tweedy deals firsthand with many of the ways race, class, and medicine collide and his narratives put a very human face on the medical statistics. His struggles and epiphanies help illuminate the difficulties black doctors and patients face.

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