Surgery Taught to Black Women by White Men, Episode #004

Dr. Patricia Dawson is a pioneer black, women surgeon who completed medical school in 1977 and surgical residency in 1982.  She was the second women to finish her surgical training at the oldest surgical residency west of the Rockies, and she was the only black resident to ever graduate from this program.  She discusses how this was an incredibly isolating experience for her, but she was not going to let that deter her from her goals.  She went on to obtain a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems.   She did her dissertation on the personal experience of black women during surgical residency where she interviewed six black women who were 5-15 years out of training.  She extrapolated 4 phases of experiences that the composite of these women experienced and discusses them each with us during this interview.  Shortly after we recorded this episode, Dr. Dawson passed away after loosing her battle with cancer.  She is truly a pioneer in many regards and is dearly missed.  The University of Washington has created the Patricia L. Dawson Endowed Faculty Fellowship, a fund established to continue in perpetuity the work of making UM Medicine a model for healthcare equity. To contribute, visit. http://acceleratemed.org/dawson. Tune in to our next episode when we interview Dr. Qaali Hussein, a trauma surgeon. Links mentioned in this episode: Forged By The Knife #MeToo in Surgery: Narratives by Women Surgeons Thank you for listening!!