We’re shining the ProjectIMPACT Spotlight on Ruth Jobarteh-Williams, MD, FAAD, an individual who is making a positive impact in healthcare by advocating for minority student success in medicine. Dr. Jobarteh-Williams is interviewed by Dominique Revan, a student at the University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and a VisualDx Student Advisory Board member.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF: WHERE YOU ARE FROM, WHERE DID YOU GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL/RESIDENCY AND WHY YOU DECIDED TO GO INTO DERMATOLOGY?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: My name is Ruth Jobarteh-Williams, and I’m originally from Nigeria. I came to the United States in 2009 for college, and I’ve been here since then. I attended Howard University College of Medicine for medical school, completed a one-year internship at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, and proceeded to do my dermatology residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY. Now I’m back in Maryland, working as a full-time dermatologist with WellSpan Dermatology in York, Pennsylvania.
I never really got exposure to dermatology until my third year of medical school. I entered medical school thinking I would either become an ER doctor or a surgeon. Both fields are amazing but didn’t align with my personality. A friend suggested shadowing dermatology, and I quickly remembered that as a first-year medical student, they made it seem like a field that was hard to attain, so I just never really had it on my radar. But I got the opportunity to shadow for a week and really enjoyed it. I realized it tied all my interests together: being able to be in a clinic setting, doing procedures, and having a work-life balance.
Not every field affords you the ability to have a well-balanced lifestyle, and I feel like dermatology is one that really gives you this opportunity. At the same time, it’s a very lucrative field where you can tailor your practice to exactly what you want. Whether you want to be in private practice or academics, dermatology offers a variety that a lot of fields don’t.
PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR JOB AND YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT POSITION:
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: My job is very focused on medical dermatology and surgery, which I enjoy, and I love the fact that I see both kids and adults. What I really like about my job is that I can give my patients the best care. I consider myself a very welcoming doctor and take my time to listen, which is something my patients frequently mention in their feedback. They often compliment me for being a great listener, which I believe is very important. At Howard, we were taught to always listen to patients, and I’ve noticed that many doctors are excellent clinically but lack bedside manner, which makes a big difference.
In my practice, I strive to portray myself as someone who is very passionate about skin of color and issues affecting Black and brown skin. If you look up my profile at my job, you’ll see that I’m very well-versed in everything related to skin of color and I welcome everybody to my practice.
WHAT DO YOU SEE as THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN REDUCING BIAS IN HEALTHCARE?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: I think the biggest challenge is recognizing that there’s a problem. If you don’t recognize that there’s a problem, it’s going to be hard for you to fix it. You’d be surprised that there are still a lot of people who don’t believe in health disparities, and that’s the fundamental problem.
In dermatology, we don’t have a lot of Black and brown doctors, and if you want to make a field more diverse and cater to more people in the community, you need to have doctors that look like the people in the community.
Dermatology is trying to push toward making the field more diverse, but I think we still have a long way to go.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT ADDRESSES HEALTHCARE EQUITY?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: For me, I mainly enjoy working with medical students. I’m close to the Howard med students interested in dermatology, and I volunteer with them to do community service. This allows me to put myself out there, talk about disparities, and ensure people know that we are listening and trying to fix things. My practice is a very welcoming environment, as I mentioned. I have White patients, Black patients, and patients from very diverse backgrounds. Word of mouth is very powerful. Once patients come and they feel comfortable, they tell their friends and refer more people to me. I always make each patient feel welcome and comfortable and do what is needed to treat their condition.
The biggest challenge I have right now is that my practice is part of a health system, not a private practice, so I can’t really advertise my practice on social media. Therefore, I rely on patients to spread the word for me. I make each patient encounter very important because it will leave a lasting memory on the patient.
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO GO INTO MEDICINE?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: My mom, actually. She was a doctor. I grew up in a family of physicians—my dad is a doctor, and two of my sisters are doctors—so I pretty much grew up in that environment. My mom was a single mom, and since I was the youngest, I always tagged along with her. I saw how she always gave very compassionate care to her patients and the gratification that came with treating patients and being there for people when they’re most vulnerable. It’s a very rewarding job.
I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to pursue medicine because giving back to the community in any capacity was very important to me. It was one of my life goals. Medicine was more of an inherited passion, and I felt it would give me a lot of fulfillment in life, so that’s why I decided to pursue it.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO MEDICAL STUDENTS OR RESIDENTS INTERESTED IN ADDRESSING HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: You have to start early, and unfortunately, a lot of schools give the mindset that you just need to think about passing the exams and getting the highest score, but that’s not everything you need. It’s important to really learn the aspects of being a great person.
You can be a brilliant doctor, but if you don’t have good bedside manners, you’re not going to be great. No matter how much knowledge you have accumulated, if people don’t feel comfortable talking to you about their problems, you’re never going to be a great doctor.
That’s something that should be incorporated in medical training: Teaching people how to be great individuals, not just great physicians.
When I was in residency, I was in charge of lecturing, and I would always make it a point to tell my residents:
Even though you’re not Black, you’re in a place where you see a lot of Black patients. There is no reason why you should not feel comfortable identifying a skin condition on Black skin. It’s different if you’re in a place where you don’t see Black patients, but here you need to make an effort to learn. There is no excuse at all. And if you’re in a program or a place where you’re not exposed to Black people, then you need to go out of your way to learn more about Black skin or conditions that affect people of color.
If you want to be a doctor, you have to be a well-rounded doctor. You have to make an effort to learn it because people should feel comfortable going to any dermatologist, and every dermatologist should be well-trained in all skin tones. We need to change our mentality so that people start making an effort to learn about Black and brown skin.
HOW DO YOU PLEDGE TO MAKE AN IMPACT TO IMPROVE HEALTH EQUITY?
Dr. Jobarteh-Williams: For me, it’s always using my platform—whether through social media, the clinic, or interactions—to make people realize that there are still health disparities. People need to be aware of these problems because if they don’t, we can’t fix them. I like to share a lot of short tips and tricks on my Instagram page for treating skin conditions that affect Black and brown people because that information isn’t readily available. I ensure my interactions with people are a way to educate them about my community and issues that affect people who look like me.
I don’t do much research now because I’m in a healthcare system, but I think that’s another area of medicine that lacks attention. People are often afraid to participate in research studies or clinical trials because they feel like they’re being used for experiments, and I don’t blame them considering medical history in the US. Black people have been used without their consent to advance science, which is not okay. However, I think if we have more Black research scientists in the field, then people would be more receptive to participating in clinical trials. Research is essential for enhancing medical knowledge and discovering new treatments. Unfortunately, many clinical studies don’t involve people who look like us.
Eventually, my goal is to try to do as much research as I can within my capacity, so I can contribute to medical knowledge and literature.
Subscribe to VisualDx Today
Become a VisualDx subscriber today and gain access to clinical information and medical images of thousands of diagnoses. Your first 7 days are FREE.