PODCAST EPISODES

Research suggests that Black patients experience better health outcomes when treated by Black doctors. In today’s episode, Dr. Marilyn Gaston, a physician and researcher, and Dr. Gayle Porter, a clinical psychologist, join to chat about their trailblazing careers spent working to improve the physical and emotional health of families, especially those who are poor, minority, and underserved. They also share how they successfully build trusting relationships within communities of color. Drs. Gaston and Porter are the authors of the groundbreaking book, Prime Time: The African American Woman’s Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness and have designed Sister Circles, which have proven effective in helping women develop stress management techniques, improve nutrition, and increase physical activity.

Topics Covered: 

• Why Drs. Gaston and Porter pursued medicine despite a dearth of Black female doctors
• Dr. Gaston’s contributions to sickle cell research 
• Advancing community-centered medicine
• Why Black patients may have better health outcomes when treated by Black doctors
• Building trust in doctor-patient relationships
• Drs. Gaston and Porter’s efforts to educate the Black community about the COVID-19 vaccine
• Common pre-existing health conditions in Black women and their causes
• Common stressors affecting Black women
• How chronic stress impacts our physical and mental health
• How professional relationships can contribute to stress 
• Dr. Gaston’s and Dr. Porter’s experiences being the first and only in academic and professional settings 
• How Drs. Gaston and Porter have dealt with racism and sexism in the workplace
• The importance of assertiveness training
• Why the health of women in mid-life have been overlooked
• Why Drs. Gaston and Porter decided to write Prime Time: The African American Woman’s Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness and how it was received 
• How Prime Time Sister Circles are helping Black women improve their physical and emotional health

Highlights:

• “It’s arrogant for outsiders to come in and make decisions for the community. You work to help them eliminate the barriers and you do it together and you learn together. You’re not in charge of their community. They’re in charge of their community.” 
• “One of the problems with our healthcare system is that there is not a lot of trust between the community and the system.” 
• “It’s so important that you have a support system of other professionals and personal folk who you can go to.” 
• “As Black women we are dealing with both internal and external sexism and racism.”

Connect with Drs. Gaston and Porter: 

On their website: https://www.gastonandporter.org/

Over the phone: 301-765-1942

Other References: 

• Emma Goldberg, For Doctors of Color, Microaggressions Are All Too Familiar, NYTimes, Aug. 11, 2020
• Erika Stallings, Black patients, black physicians, and the need to improve health outcomes for African Americans, NBC News, May 6, 2019
• Gina Kolata, The Secret To Keeping Black Men Healthy? Maybe Black Doctors, NYTimes, Aug. 20, 2018
• Break Concrete, Episode 23, Prioritizing Black Women’s Health with Ashlee Wisdom
• Veronica Thomas, Marilyn Gaston, Gayle Porter, Alicia Anderson, Prime Time Sister Circles II: Evaluating a Culturally Relevant Intervention to Decrease Psychological and Physical Risk Factors for Chronic Disease in Mid-Life African American Women, Journal of the National Medical Association, Spring 2016
• Lottie Joiner, Black May Not Crack, but We’re Aging Faster Inside, The Root, Nov. 20, 2013 
• Becky Birtha, Poem for Flight 

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