Fellow Physician Contributing Author
University of California, San Francisco
Chase T.M. Anderson is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his B.S. and M.S. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. from The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. And he completed his residency training in adult psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital.
My fingers tense. Frozen not of my own accord. I want to do this, but I can’t. I need to do this, yet the anxiety grips at my mind and throat, stalling what should be an easy decision. As a Black, gay medical student in my fourth year, what I’m about to do has so many repercussions and permutations. So much so that I feel stuck, unable to be decisive when decisiveness is necessary.
“You could help us with our diversity efforts. If you came here, you could be a part of building up our diversity program.” Who said I wanted to help with your diversity efforts? Why hasn’t it been built up already?
I constantly have to deal with racism and homophobia. In Boston. In America. When I leave work and go home, I have to prepare to deal with the same prejudices the following day. Why would I ever go out of my way to read such stories in my spare time, as I recover from the day behind me?
Fellow Physician Contributing Author
University of California, San Francisco
Chase T.M. Anderson is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his B.S. and M.S. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. from The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. And he completed his residency training in adult psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital.
