Navigating Communication in Racially Concordant Care: Considerations for Medical Education.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Black/African American medical professionals and students engage in patient-centered communication in ways that are not yet described in medical education literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which Black/African American attending physicians, residents, and medical students enact patient-centered communication while interacting with their Black/African American patients.

Methods: Forty-one Black/African American attending physicians, residents, and medical students were recruited through a snowball sample of the authors' personal and professional networks. Participants engaged in semistructured interviews about their experiences of being Black in a predominantly White profession. Data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results:  Black/African American attending physicians, residents, and medical students used patient-centered communication when engaging with Black/African American patients. Rather than relying on physician-focused styles of communication, participants situated their communication within their shared cultural backgrounds and approached their patients as they would approach family members. Participants reported that by centering the patient, they could communicate in a way that reflects shared norms and understandings.

Conclusions:  This study suggests that Black/African American attending physicians, residents, and medical students approach communication from a personal and familial space in an effort to disrupt conventional modes of provider-patient communication that do not center the patient or consider the patient's cultural background.