{"id":2864,"date":"2020-06-03T15:17:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T19:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?p=2864"},"modified":"2020-06-03T16:17:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T20:17:38","slug":"will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the Real Doctor Please Stand Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Allison<\/a>

Dr. Latimore is the Education Chief Resident at the MedStar Washington Hospital Family Residency Program in Washington, DC<\/p><\/div>\n

I stood in the hospital elevator yawning and rubbing my eyes, waiting to get off on my floor. A woman looked over at me and said, \u201cCongratulations.\u201d I began to look over my body. Did I look pregnant in these scrubs? Did I have on my real engagement ring instead of my silicone ring? After a few seconds of wondering why she could possibly want to congratulate me, I asked, \u201cOn what?\u201d She looked at my physician badge and said, \u201cYour job.\u201d I was stunned. Here I am. Frustrated with working long hours. Unable to realize my position of privilege in that moment. There have been moments in residency that I\u2019ve had people of color tell me how proud of me they are. I\u2019ve had little girls tell me that they want to be like me when they grow up. But the reality is, I struggle to believe that I even belong in this career.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a><\/p>\n

You Are the Doctor?<\/h2>\n

\"black<\/a><\/p>\n

I am a short black woman, in her 20s. When I walk into an exam room with a white coat on, so many patients tell their relatives on the phone, \u201cHold on. The nurse is here.\u201d My personal favorite is being called a baby doctor, because at least I still look young. I\u2019ve stood on a hospital floor reading an EKG with a stethoscope around my neck, and have been asked, \u201cAre you the secretary?\u201d The person who asked was the night secretary reporting for her shift.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for me to go along with some of the simplest things in medicine. For example, some of my colleagues don\u2019t wear white coats for a myriad of good reasons. When I\u2019m in the hospital, I feel it is necessary to wear a white coat, because a badge that says, \u201cPhysician\u201d or \u201cMD\u201d is not enough to remind people that I am indeed a doctor.\u00a0 There are people who feel that referring to yourself as Dr. to others in the medical field or to patients is pompous or reserved for attendings, but I feel I need to, just so people understand my role in their care. I\u2019ve had a patient ask me if I was legally a doctor before just observing an in-office procedure. There have been times when I\u2019ve been disrespected by colleagues or others in the medical field, and I can\u2019t help but wonder why they felt it was okay to speak to me in that way. Is it because I\u2019m young, black, a woman, all of the above, or am I being overly sensitive because of the aforementioned reasons?<\/p>\n

Pay it Forward<\/h2>\n

\"Meharry<\/a><\/p>\n

For every uncomfortable situation, there have been positives. I have had the opportunity to mentor at my alma mater and to \u00a0share my story, my setbacks, and my successes with students to encourage them to pursue this career.<\/p>\n

As of March 2019, \u2248300,000 out of the \u22481 million doctors in the U.S. are women. I feel that it is imperative to tell the truth about this path, because I didn\u2019t come from a lineage of physicians. I was a 5-year-old with a dream to become a doctor, whose parents never stopped believing in her when she stumbled. I was fortunate to make connections with people who helped me figure out my path, and I feel a responsibility to do the same for others. Even with 3 degrees, a closet with multiple white coats, and a stack of ID badges for different hospitals and offices, I sometimes still don\u2019t feel like I should be here. Some days, I don\u2019t feel qualified to be writing this blog. But for whatever reason, I am here. So how do I get over the feeling? I know that anyone can feel like an imposter in this profession. If you<\/em> did, how did you get over it? Does it just take time? I’m still looking for answers!<\/p>\n

\"NEJM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I stood in the hospital elevator yawning and rubbing my eyes, waiting to get off on my floor. A woman looked over at me and said, \u201cCongratulations.\u201d I began to look over my body. Did I look pregnant in these scrubs? Did I have on my real engagement ring instead of my silicone ring? After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":2867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,47,33,37],"class_list":["post-2864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-residency","tag-chief-resident","tag-mentors","tag-reflections","tag-resident-experience"],"yoast_head":"\nWill the Real Doctor Please Stand Up? - Insights on Residency Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Latimore wonders how to become more confident about her career as a young black female physician.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will the Real Doctor Please Stand Up?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Latimore wonders how to become more confident about her career as a young black female physician.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insights on Residency Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-03T19:17:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-03T20:17:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/05\/IMG_0785-1024x768.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Latimore, MD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Latimore, MD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/\",\"name\":\"Will the Real Doctor Please Stand Up? - Insights on Residency Training\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-03T19:17:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-03T20:17:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Latimore wonders how to become more confident about her career as a young black female physician.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/06\/will-the-real-doctor-please-stand-up\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will the Real Doctor Please Stand Up?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Insights on Residency Training\",\"description\":\"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce\",\"name\":\"Allison Latimore, MD\",\"description\":\"Allison is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. 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