Transcript: My name is Adonteng Kwakye. I am now in Nashville, Tennessee. My specialty is interventional radiology. I did my medical training at the Medical University of South Carolina, did Radiology at the University of Kentucky, and did my fellowship at the prestigious Mount Sinai in New York City. I think it’s unavoidable in medicine, that we’re going to have health equity and health disparities. So when I look back at some of my training, and how I want to treat my patients now, one of the biggest things is just being visual and being seen. I think any underrepresented minority or physician will probably relate to a patient coming in and just seeing you and for whatever reason, right or wrong, having a welcoming spirit. And that’s because we know our history here in the US. And somehow, we talk about especially African Americans and Black Americans have been socially disadvantaged, when it comes to medicine, with Tuskegee experiments and things of that nature. So there is a level of mistrust and distrust that comes from patients and just me and my presence alone and letting them understand that I’m aware of that. Because I am in that diaspora as well. And I think, trying to close that just by giving them the best care which they will receive from countless of other people, but especially with having a black doctor, as well, to know that I see you understand you, and we’re going to move forward together. So representation, I know that a lot of catchphrases and a lot of words when we talk about dei diversity, equity, and inclusion. But representation truly matters. It matters for patients that are in the hospital and it matters for future trainees as well. Because, unfortunately, if it wasn’t for folks like Dr. Bell, I didn’t see a lot of Black physicians. Actually, as you probably well know, 6% of us doctors in the United States, of course, are Black. And that’s a very dismal number. And those numbers have been changed in the past 20 or 30 years. So we have to kind of move the needle and I think just the presence alone of having more people that look like me helping patients that look like me as well.
Dr. Adonteng Kwakye: Why Representation Matters
