Dr. Kameelah Phillips, an OB-GYN, often discusses the history of the Sims speculum with students.
Tyler Essary / TODAY Illustrationis an OB-GYN and founder of Calla Women’s Health in New York City. She specializes in health disparities, sexual health, menopause and lactation. In a conversation with TODAY, she discussed the need to address the history of racism in gynecological medicine and the lingering effects that impact patients today.
. Without even meeting this woman, I knew she was Black. I have heard these types of stories all too often. This outcome is sad and could have been avoided.and how bias impacts patients and their outcomes. I’ve found that medical students, residents and young doctorsto learn more about racism in medicine, but they often worry about bringing it up or do not know where to find resources to learn more on their own. Learning about it can certainly cause a flood of emotions.
When students and residents mention the Sims speculum today, I take a moment to share what I know about the doctor and the racism that informs his work. In my own practice, I also call the speculum"Lucy," the name of the one of women who suffered during a Sims surgery when he tried repairing her postpartum incontinence.
Even how we think about and treat cancer has roots in racism. When Black sharecropper Henrietta Lacks visited doctors in the early 1950s, they discovered advanced cervical cancer. Doctors took her cells without telling her or her family — or obtaining consent. Companies have used these cells to find cancer medicines and they have made money from the research based on her cells.
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