I worry that my doctors won't believe me.

Every time. Every appointment. Every doctor. Even the ones with whom I have a good relationship.

Why? Because once, when I was sick and needed them the most, my doctors did not believe me.

I dress nicely when I go to doctor's appointments.

I am as polite and respectable as I can be.

I use correct terminology.

I am thorough when I report my history.

Why? Because once, when I was sick and needed them the most, my doctors did not believe me.

I shouldn't have to perform my symptoms.

I shouldn't have to speak in my "customer service voice."

But I am a woman and I am Black and I am disabled and I have chronic pain.

And once, when I was sick and needed them the most, my doctors did not believe me.

I'm going to have to mute this now because too many notifications make my nerves bad. A few things before I do...

Thank you to everyone who's sharing their stories here. Your words have power.

I've noticed that whenever #disabled & chronically ill people tweet about bad experiences w/ doctors / healthcare 2 things happen

1. A bunch of other disabled people chime in with similar terrible stories

2. A few doctors / healthcare providers chime in with "not all doctors"

Yes.

All doctors.

We're all part of this system and we're all obligated to make it better.

#MedTwitter

We literally took an oath against harming our patients. If the ingrained racism, ableism, fatphobia, homophobia, etc. in our healthcare system is hurting our patients then all of us need to do something to fix it.

That starts with listening to patients.

Doctors aren't perfect. We aren't always going to get things right. Knowing that, we should make an effort to check ourselves / our biases & check in with our patients. Especially since the power dynamics are so lopsided that our patients may be unable to check us in real time.

Bias in medicine is real. Medical gaslighting is real. Health related trauma is real. I know. I'm a doctor. But before, during, and after that I am a Black, disabled woman. And stories like mine are far too common.