Delta has questioned the medical qualifications of a black female doctor

Fatima Cody Stanford is a physician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard. She is sought after in the country for her expertise in obesity medicine. However, during a Delta flight this week, she was interviewed by flight attendants.

"No matter how many degrees I have – I have four; no matter how many residences I did, I did two; no matter how many scholarships – I did two; no matter how many years of training you have followed as a woman of color, as a person who does not fit the mold, [you face this]Said Stanford Fortune.

Stanford, a black woman specialist in obesity medicine, was traveling to a base in Indianapolis to travel to her headquarters in Boston. The passenger sitting next to her on the Republic Flight 5935, operated by Republic as a connecting flight, began to shake and hyperventilate.

Stanford tried to help his roommate. When passengers in the surrounding rows began to glimpse the woman's distress, a flight attendant came in and asked if Stanford was a doctor, Stanford said. Stanford showed the air hostess her Massachusetts medical license. The flight attendant departed and a few minutes later a second flight attendant arrived and also asked to see the license.

While the patient, suffering from claustrophobia in the small plane, was beginning to calm down, Stanford said that two flight attendants came back and continued to interrogate him, one of them asking: " Are you really a doctor? "

After landing, Stanford published an article on the incident on Twitter.

She says she was later contacted by a Delta employee who said that she worked for the Delta CEO's office and investigated the situation.

A spokesman for Delta said Fortune that the airline thanked Dr. Stanford for his assistance and apologized for "any misunderstanding that occurred during his flight with the flight crew".

The incident resembles the one Delta faced in 2016, when the airline questioned Tamika Cross's references, an OB / GYN. "Oh no, darling, put your hand down; we are looking for doctors or nurses or some kind of medical staff. We do not have time to talk to you, "said a Delta flight attendant at Cross in 2016.

The incident caused Delta to change its policies to not require verification of medical vouchers and to rely on the passenger's statement that he is a physician, medical assistant, nurse, paramedic or a paramedic – a policy that was not followed during the Stanford flight.

The policy is supposed to be the same on flights operated by Delta carriers, including Republic.

About two weeks before that flight, Stanford had actually interviewed Cross at an event about sexist biases in medicine among doctors and patients. Prejudices in medicine are also a subject Stanford is familiar with because of his specialized work in obese patients.

This incident shows that Delta's policy changes in 2016 were not enough, according to Stanford. The airline needs more training on implicit prejudices, she says.

After telling what happened, Stanford heard from many people of color in medicine who were asked about their medical qualifications. Massachusetts General White colleagues expressed frustration at having never faced similar doubts.

Stanford says he has already been on board flights two or three times and never had a problem. In this case, the medical problem was not life-threatening, but in a more urgent situation, responses such as Delta's flight attendants could be dangerous, says Stanford.

"If this was a situation where this patient needed more intervention, I would be concerned about the ability to provide timely care," Stanford said.

"We thank Dr. Stanford for his medical assistance aboard Republic Flight 5935 IND-BOS and we regret any misunderstanding that occurred during his exchange with the flight crew. In the future, we are closely following the relationship with our carrier partner to ensure that their employees understand and consistently apply the policy, "said Delta spokesperson Trebor Banstetter. Fortune. "Whatever the planes, all customers are Delta customers and we are committed to bringing them a similar experience on every flight. In 2016, Delta changed its policy on providing medical referrals and we are working with all of our connection partners to ensure that their changes and actions match ours. "

"We thank Dr. Stanford for his medical assistance on our flight 5935 and we apologize for any misunderstandings during his exchange with our flight crew. In the future, we are working with Delta to ensure that our employees understand and consistently apply all applicable policies, "added Republic spokesman Jon Austin in a statement. "Dr. Stanford's care of the passenger remained uninterrupted for the duration of the medical problem. "