Diagnosing Racism: How One Med Student Sparked a Big Change

The Dose

On this special season of The Dose, guest host Joel Bervell is hosting a series of conversations with experts and leaders in health equity. In examining how we can uproot racism in our healthcare system, we are starting at the beginning of many healthcare careers: medical school.

Naomi Nkinsi was one of the few Black students in her cohort at University of Washington School of Medicine. She noticed that the images in her lectures depicted Black patients living in impoverished and hygienic conditions, while pictures of white patients showed polished school photos. Nkinsi recognized that the disparity in images reinforced harmful biases for her classmates, and she began to advocate for a change.

Through a back-and-forth with her university’s administration, Nkinsi continued to advocate against racism. She eventually sparked a conversation that led to the reversal of the race-based component of the eGFR equation in many settings, thus removing a barrier to proper kidney treatment for thousands of Black patients.

On the latest episode of The Dose, Nnkinsi joins Joel Bervell to discuss why and how she continues to challenge racism, despite institutional pushback, and shares what medical schools can learn from their students.

“The days I didn't say anything, I felt worse than when I did,” Nkinsi says. “I had already been outspoken, I already had the reputation of the angry Black student. Other classmates already viewed me as unprofessional… ​​​​So if I already have that reputation, then I should just keep speaking out because it's not going to get worse.”

Citations

Health inequities and the inappropriate use of race in nephrology