Synopses & Reviews
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP TEN NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR
One
doctor's passionate and profound memoir of his experience grappling
with race, bias, and the unique health problems of black Americans
When
Damon Tweedy begins medical school,he envisions a bright future where
his segregated, working-class background will become largely irrelevant.
Instead, he finds that he has joined a new world where race is front
and center. The recipient of a scholarship designed to increase black
student enrollment, Tweedy soon meets a professor who bluntly questions
whether he belongs in medical school, a moment that crystallizes the
challenges he will face throughout his career. Making matters worse, in
lecture after lecture the common refrain for numerous diseases resounds,
"More common in blacks than in whites."
Black Man in a White Coat examines
the complex ways in which both black doctors and patients must navigate
the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. As
Tweedy transforms from student to practicing physician, he discovers how
often race influences his encounters with patients. Through their
stories, he illustrates the complex social, cultural, and economic
factors at the root of many health problems in the black community.
These issues take on greater meaning when Tweedy is himself diagnosed
with a chronic disease far more common among black people. In this
powerful, moving, and deeply empathetic book, Tweedy explores the
challenges confronting black doctors, and the disproportionate health
burdens faced by black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to
better treatment and more compassionate care.
Review
“Tweedy, an African American psychiatrist at Duke University, expertly
weaves together statistics, personal anecdotes, and patient stories to
explain why 'being black can be bad for your health'... A smart,
thought-provoking, frontline look at race and medicine.” Booklist, starred review
Review
“An arresting memoir that personalizes the enduring racial divide in
contemporary American medicine.... In this unsparingly honest chronicle,
Tweedy cohesively illuminates the experiences of black doctors and
black patients and reiterates the need for improved understanding of
racial differences within global medical communities.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Tweedy’s vulnerability makes him a vivid and engaging narrator…. [Black Man in a White Coat]
makes important contribution to the ongoing debate about health care in
America. Tweedy has advanced a much-needed public conversation about
racial disparities in medicine which, while less familiar to most
Americans than the deaths that inspired the Black Lives Matter movement,
continue to cost black lives.” The Boston Globe
Review
“A must-read for anyone interested in improving medical care from
training to delivery in a world where race persists as a factor in life
and death.” Library Journal
Review
“Tweedy reveals all you need to know about the Byzantine health care
system, wide-ranging disparities that persist and, more important, how
we can take control of our well-being...Black Man in a White Coat
is certain to garner incredible attention during the literary awards
season. It's a book that deserves a very long shelf life.” Essence
Synopsis
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP TEN NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK SELECTION A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE BOOK SELECTION
One doctor's passionate and profound memoir of his experience grappling with race, bias, and the unique health problems of black Americans
When Damon Tweedy begins medical school, he envisions a bright future where his segregated, working-class background will become largely irrelevant. Instead, he finds that he has joined a new world where race is front and center. The recipient of a scholarship designed to increase black student enrollment, Tweedy soon meets a professor who bluntly questions whether he belongs in medical school, a moment that crystallizes the challenges he will face throughout his career. Making matters worse, in lecture after lecture the common refrain for numerous diseases resounds, More common in blacks than in whites.
Black Man in a White Coat examines the complex ways in which both black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. As Tweedy transforms from student to practicing physician, he discovers how often race influences his encounters with patients. Through their stories, he illustrates the complex social, cultural, and economic factors at the root of many health problems in the black community. These issues take on greater meaning when Tweedy is himself diagnosed with a chronic disease far more common among black people. In this powerful, moving, and deeply empathic book, Tweedy explores the challenges confronting black doctors, and the disproportionate health burdens faced by black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to better treatment and more compassionate care.
"
About the Author
Damon Tweedy is a graduate of Duke Medical School and Yale Law
School. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University
Medical Center and staff physician at the Durham VA Medical Center. He
has published articles about race and medicine in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Annals of Internal Medicine. His columns and op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Raleigh News & Observer, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He lives outside Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.