I was proud to support Dr. Tamika Cross and raise the voice of Black women physicians across this country by interviewing with BBC London's Newsday Radio Show regarding the #WhatADoctorLooksLike movement.  You can listen to the interview by clicking the link below.

Earlier this month, Dr. Tamika Cross posted on Facebook about her experience on a Delta Airlines flight during which emergency medical support was needed.  An excerpt of her post is below.

Black women physicians immediately identified with her experience and rallied in support of Dr. Tamika Cross by creating the hashtags #ThisIsWhatADoctorLooksLike and #WhatADoctorLooksLike.  The hashtags exploded into a movement -- a celebration of Black women physicians whose nearly daily experience includes refuting the implicit racial and gender biases that prevent people from believing that yes we are actually physicians.  Not housekeeping, not dietary staff, not med techs, not nursing assistants, not nurses, but physicians.  Primary care doctors, pediatricians, surgeons, obstetricians, psychiatrists, radiologists, emergency medicine physicians and every other specialty that exists.

As the movement gained steam, the world began watching -- both surprised by the vehemence of the movement, and wowed by the number of Black women physicians whose pictures were shattering the typical idea of #WhatADoctorLooksLike.  In public, we basked in the glory of having our voices heard.  In private, we lamented over those who seeked to undermine the veracity of our lived experience, either by outright denying Dr. Cross' experience, or by responding with articles about gender discrimination in medicine that intentionally omitted the additional layer of discrimination that is added by being a Black woman in medicine.

All in all, we felt the victory of this movement and the ongoing impact we know it will have.    Now, when we respond to an overhead call for medical assistance, or when we walk in the hospital room with our white male medical student trailing behind, or when we introduce ourselves as Doctor in a different professional setting, maybe it won't be so difficult for others to believe that yes, sometimes #WhatADoctorLooksLike is a Black woman.

I've linked to some of the tweets from Black women physicians below (starting with my own tweet that led the BBC London to me).  Scroll down and be amazed at #WhatADoctorLooksLike 😉

#Thisiswhatadoctorlookslike #Whatadoctorlookslike pic.twitter.com/LqyPLRQKtL

— Nzinga Harrison, MD (@naharrisonmd) October 13, 2016

@Delta should have that attendant follow #WhatADoctorLooksLike to see that we are doctors 2! This is me at work! pic.twitter.com/f8SrXus4gn

— Carmen April (@DrCarmenApril) October 14, 2016

.@Delta I got MD in '92 from @JeffersonUniv. We're not new or a novelty. Sad this is needed.Sadder I'm not surprised. #WhatADoctorLooksLike pic.twitter.com/eVWmo732Ma

— Dr. Donna (@DonnaHamiltonMD) October 14, 2016

Black Women Physicians Are Coming Together to Defy Stereotypes with #WhatADoctorLooksLike https://t.co/YKBLv8lAgU

— For Harriet (@ForHarriet) October 14, 2016