kcl

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  • in reply to: Week 13: Black Man in a White Coat #867
    kcl
    Participant

    I loved all the connections you made to other works we’ve read and discussed. I also thought there was a deep connection between the first chapters of the book and the NYT article, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies are in a Life or Death Crisis,” the contrast between Leslie’s outcome and Landrum’s was very stark. Your point about Tweedy’s “chart talk” made me think about the disparity between the over-medicalized language of doctors and the actual symptoms and suffering of their patients, i.e. the “disease” vs. “illness” conversation in Kleinman’s work. I feel like we also see the “sickness” portrayed in the conversation between the nurse and doctor, the former being immediately dismissive and condescending when regarding Leslie because of her substance use. It’s interesting to see how these difficult experiences in his medical education impacted Dr. Tweedy’s growing role as a healer. Although shocked by the system and its inner workings, Tweedy is able to transcend these limitations by harnessing the power of narrative reasoning and structural competency, as you mentioned in your analysis.

    kcl
    Participant

    I agree with your analysis that the two readings made great companion pieces. In our discussion of HIV today, I was reminded of the 4 H’s of HIV (those who were initially described as being more susceptible to the disease): heroin users, Haitians, hemophiliacs, and homosexuals. This classification served as a way to separate these “others” from the in-group and demonized those groups of people. It was disconcerting to read the introduction to Contagious and Poe’s piece, talk about the early stigmatization of people with HIV, and tie it to how certain people have called SARS-CoV-2 the “Chinese Virus.” It’s amazing and upsetting to consider how scapegoating of groups of people still occurs today. I saw a parallel between the elite in Poe’s story and the celebrities and politicians of today who have attempted to “escape” the virus in their multimillion dollar mansions, pretending that virus doesn’t exist or masquerading as icons of ideal health who aren’t susceptible. I saw the visitor in the “Masque of the Read Death” (the bacteria/virus/contagion) as a great ( or not so great) equalizer — one who kills irrespective of socioeconomic status or geopolitical power. I also compared the party revelers to our country; many believed that we could contain the spread, yet now we have potentially the highest incidence rate in the world. I was reminded of the biblical quote, “pride comes before the fall.”

    – Kyle Lambert

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