Melanated.

Melanin poppin.

Black girl magic.

If you came into this world blessed with melanin hues from the lightest cafe au lait to the deepest ebony skin, you know how special your brown skin is. However, in many situations, many of you have witnessed first hand how the rest of the world has chosen to ignore your beauty and your health. Even worse, in medicine, they do not give your physical and emotional well being the attention and care it deserves.

As a dermatology physician assistant and woman of color, I have seen the devastating effects this dismissive and biased attitude has had on Black women. Lack of training and a scarcity of medical textbooks showing what our skin looks like in certain dermatology conditions also leads to a higher incidence of lower quality health care in this group.

I have seen many women of color in my office with permanent scarring, chronic pain and irreversible hair loss telling me their story and frequently breaking down in tears of frustration, anger and suffering. Some report they have seen multiple medical providers for the same medical concern, only to be turned away and told there was nothing that could be done. Often times only a limited history and exam was done in office before being given limited number of options for treatment.