“You’re Not Really an MD, Are You?” Black Doctor Accuses Delta of Racial Bias
Sharon Hsu November 10, 2018
In 2016, the case of Dr. Tamika Cross, a black female physician whose credentials were questioned by Delta flight attendants during an in-flight medical emergency, led to the airline initiating inclusion training and policy change. This week, another black female doctor says the same thing happened to her.
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford was on an uneventful Delta flight on Tuesday night when she noticed that the passenger sitting next to her appeared to have fallen ill, presenting with shakes and hyperventilation. Stanford, a black female doctor who teaches at Harvard Medical School and practices medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, flagged down a flight attendant and presented her medical license, offering to assist her seatmate.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that instead of granting permission, the flight attendant asked another colleague to double check Stanford’s license. Stanford reports that the second flight attendant then said to her, “You’re not really a doctor, you’re just a head doctor…. You’re not really an MD, are you?”
If this story sounds familiar, it might be because another black female physician was questioned about her credentials on a Delta flight two years ago. Dr. Tamika Cross alleged that the airline had shown racial bias after flight attendants refused her help in a medical emergency, turning to a white male doctor instead. The incident drew national attention, with other physicians of color and white female physicians sharing their stories of experiencing bias via the viral hashtag #whatdoesadoctorlooklike, and led to Delta instituting a policy change wherein their flight attendants are no longer required to request proof of credentials from medical professionals who can assist in an emergency.
Dr @FStanfordMD, sorry to hear @Delta staff discriminated against you.
It's sad this keeps happening to #female & #minority #doctors, even though many physicians spoken up https://t.co/9tyeLL5YBC
It's happened to me too https://t.co/xaMuDHrlZW
& the sick passengers suffer 🤢
— Wen Dombrowski MD MBA (@HealthcareWen) November 5, 2018
Stanford felt a strange sense of déjà vu as well; she had attended a conference on medical bias just two weeks prior to her flight, where Cross was the keynote speaker. In fact, Stanford says, after hearing Cross’s story, “I began to make sure that I was always equipped with my license.” She adds that she was disappointed that “my value and worth in that situation was questioned” while attempting to assist a fellow passenger.
When asked for comment, Delta issued the following statement: “We thank Dr. Stanford for her medical assistance and are sorry for any misunderstanding that may have occurred.”
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I keep my medical license in my wallet. Carry them with me everywhere. Fascinating that this happened AFTER Delta announced that they would no longer demand proof of credentials. I suppose a black female doctor was just too improbable for the flight attendants to believe. It is not just black women. I have a white female colleague whom the flight attendants tried to prevent treating a patient who was coding. She was able to brow beat them into bringing out the defibrillator but got more static when he wanted them to open the meds. She is a very forceful person (chair of a major department at a major medical school. Not a kid Not the retiring type). She won, the patient lived. Would have made for an interesting lawsuit if their obstruction had lead to a death.
Dear Flight Attendant... Even if she had been a "head doctor" (aka psychiatrist), she is still a medical doctor. Psychiatrists go to medical school
@e30st should have asked them if they'd ever heard of Doogie Howser
Well, this is for VJ_RAMA who asked "who carries their medical license" and others who made light of this issue. The state of California, where I have practiced as a critical care specialist for over 40 years, issues "wallet cards" to all its physicians. They are the size of a credit card and easily readable to show that the bearer has a medical license. They are exactly designed for situations like this. On better careers than Delta, I have been requested on numerous emergent situations to show that I am a physician (I have no problem with it and think it's a good idea) and always produce my wallet plastic card and have always had it acknowledged. But then, I'm white and a male, and am probably old enough to look like a doctor with (gulp) probably some experience. At any rate, many other states issue those cards (I have a Nevada license, too, that issues cards of similar size) and they serve a good purpose. Delta Airlines and all the uneducated posters who don't know about this would be well served to simply accept this educative stimulant to their world. In some of this cases, it is simple racism with or without misogyny. Delta Airlines has a problem and should come out of denial about its racist employees. It would help.
I am confident there is another side to this story that we are not hearing. The fact she just attended a seninar on this two weeks previous suggests to me she might have become overly sensitive and made something of nothing. Doesn’t Delta run a risk of negligence if they just allow any PAX who claims to be a doctor begin physically contacting another PAX? I, for one, am happy that Delta is screening.