A Shawnee doctor is on the list of people outraged over an incident involving a Delta flight attendant and a Detroit doctor.
Dr. Meena Singh wrote a blog post on blackdoctor.org following the incident called, "What Should A Doctor Look Like?"
A passenger on a Delta flight was in medical crisis in mid-air. A Detroit doctor, who is a black woman, offered to help. A Delta flight attendant refused to let her help and asked several questions trying to get the woman to prove she was a doctor.
According to the Detroit doctor, when a white man stood up and said he was a doctor, the flight attendant stepped aside without question and let the man take care of the patient.
The patient is fine, but Dr. Singh is fuming.
"Just a couple days ago I had a patient who is a regular of mine who said, 'If I saw you on the streets I would not think you were a doctor,' and I said, 'What does a doctor look like, sir?' and he said, 'Not you,'" said Dr. Singh.
Dr. Singh explained that the problem is stereotypes.
"People are used to seeing white male doctors in life and on television and in the movies," she added.
Dr. Singh said her mother, an African-American woman, is a physician so she grew up knowing that black women can be physicians.
She hopes the blog will help people know that there are hundreds of black female physicians, and once people begin to see them in real life, on television, and in the movies, she hopes the doubts will disappear.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
