As a person of color, I am sometimes blind regarding my perceived identity, but this time my identity was made clear to me.
My classmate and I were on our way to give a message to a resident. We were both dressed in scrubs, and both had stethoscopes and hospital badges draped around our necks. I tapped the resident on the shoulder to tell her that radiology was on the phone for her. Before I could get the words out of my mouth, she turned to me and asked if I was one of the cleaning staff. She looked at my classmate, who was not a person of color, and asked if he was the medical student on for the shift.
We were both dressed the same, with the same hospital badges and stethoscopes around our necks. But based on skin tone, she labeled me.
My classmate and I were on our way to give a message to a resident. We were both dressed in scrubs, and both had stethoscopes and hospital badges draped around our necks. I tapped the resident on the shoulder to tell her that radiology was on the phone for her. Before I could get the words out of my mouth, she turned to me and asked if I was one of the cleaning staff. She looked at my classmate, who was not a person of color, and asked if he was the medical student on for the shift.
We were both dressed the same, with the same hospital badges and stethoscopes around our necks. But based on skin tone, she labeled me.
