Most dermatologists in the U.S. today are Caucasians since most people who go to dermatologists are White. This reality should not inconvenience people from other races if they had the proper training to accommodate everyone, but such is not the case.
Many African American dermatology patients had negative experiences with White dermatologists because they did not understand that black skin is different from the white skin they’re used to. The treatments for different medical conditions may need to vary from person to person due to differences in race. However, this requires specialized training for dermatologists.
The more straightforward solution is to hire more Black dermatologists to care for Black women’s skin and hair, but this is virtually impossible because of the multiple hurdles African Americans have to overcome. Dermatology is a competitive area of medicine where even meeting the requirements of getting into a dermatology program does not guarantee that an applicant will end up in it.
Any African Americans who’ll also pursue a career in dermatology are more likely to be pushed towards other medical fields since people think that Blacks do not belong in the field. Most patients feel comfortable if their doctors are of the same race as them, possibly contributing to why there are too few African American dermatologists since there are inherently more Caucasian patients.
Suppose there won’t any be likely changes in the recruitment of Black doctors. In that case, the White dermatologists have to be at least able to treat African American patients better to avoid fatal misdiagnoses. All the other dermatologists must have no prejudices against their Black patients and stop treating certain patients differently.
Right now, if nothing can be done to improve the situation, the patients themselves must actively look for clinics with a trusted Black dermatologist DC to have a better experience getting treated.
We at Eternal Dermatology can help our African American patients with their treatment with no worries of misdiagnosing a cancerous mole for a skin tag.
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