Reason for Consult: Institutional Racism

The new infectious diseases consult popped onto the daily list, the 6th or maybe 7th new one we would see that day. Reason for consult: Lung abscess. It seemed straightforward enough. I added the patient, James a gentleman in his late 50s with COPD, to our team census, opened the chart and started a new consult note. I had routinized this process so that it was practically second nature. Review the vitals and basic labs, then read the history and physical, then work backwards, looking for previous admissions and consultant visits.