Black Physicians Speak Out After Claims of Racial Discrimination in Workplace

Three Black physicians recently spoke out, claiming they experienced racial discrimination in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The physicians, whose positions ranged from a former resident to a hospital executive, spoke on the allegations during an interview with ABC News.

Dr. Dare Adewumi claimed he was terminated without justification, and the two others, Chris Pernell, MD, and Dr. Rosandra Daywalker, said they resigned due to “untenable work climates.” The physicians cited in their ABC News report that racial discrimination was the common reason for their departures.

At the time, Daywalker stated that she was the only Black trainee at the University of Texas Medical Branch’s (UTMB) otolaryngology program for her residency. While reportedly excelling in the program, Daywalker claimed her supervisor began treating her differently, including him delaying her clinical rotations. After voicing concerns about a Black patient being mistreated by a white faculty member during a morbidity conference, reportedly the same faculty member later became Daywalker’s direct supervisor, and things took a turn for the worst.

“Overnight, I become someone who doesn’t like feedback. You start to see him inject these words like I’m ‘unprofessional’ or that I’m ‘incompetent,’” Daywalker said in her interview.

“This is what they do. If they don’t have a real reason to get rid of you to fire you, they will make things so bad that you have no choice but to leave.” After more than three years of training, the Texas Workforce Commission reportedly determined she resigned “for good cause.” Daywalker has since filed a lawsuit against UTMB alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act and the Family Leave Act.

As for Pernell, University Hospital launched an investigation into her conduct during media appearances. She shared her personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and her perspectives on the Trump administration’s pandemic response. But ABC News reported that Pernell was told that other hospital executives disapproved of her “mouthing off” on television.

“[It was] as if I, a Black woman who had experienced loss and hurt and grief in this pandemic, should not speak about it—and speak about it from the auspices of also being a Black physician, leader, and executive,” Pernell said in her interview.

Adewumi told ABC News that he began receiving an influx of “letters of inquiry,” which questioned his surgical approaches and technique after Adewumi was recruited to revamp the neurosurgery program at Wellstar Cobb Hospital in Austell, Georgia. He claimed that his white colleagues did not receive similar criticism, even when they reportedly had worse patient outcomes.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Black doctors constitute only 5% of all practicing physicians nationwide.