A Black doctor is ready to help address a potential emergency situation on a recent flight, but says the flight attendants questioned his credentials multiple times.
TikTok user Jordan (@jordankenfackmd) is a doctor who was recently traveling on a long flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to San Francisco. “And about three hours into the flight, they make an announcement asking for a doctor,” he says in a video posted earlier this week.
“You realize you’re the only doctor on the plane,” Jordan says. “You get up. You’re excited. This is what you’ve been training for. The first thing the flight attendant says to you as he comes over is, “Wait, are you a doctor?’”
Obviously, this isn’t a great start to the interaction. Jordan says, “He looks at you kind of weird. He asks again, ‘Are you sure you’re a doctor?’ He goes ahead and asks for a medical ID. I don’t have a medical ID. I don’t know what that is, really. And then I pulled out my phone and showed him my work ID, which clearly says my name, says medical doctor (or MD), and says doctor in huge letters at the bottom.”
When a Black Doctor Answers Call for Help on Flight
In Jordan’s opinion, the flight attendant is still reluctant to accept his help, but does take him back to the flight attendant station area. “And I meet his colleague, who also then questions me, ‘Are you a doctor? What kind of doctor are you?’” Jordan says. “Finally, I say, ‘Can we just talk to the patient? What’s happening?’”
The incident involved a 6-year-old child who’d vomited the entire flight. “I ask all the questions that I need to ask, and I determine that this is not medically urgent, but I think that this child could benefit from an antiemetic,” Jordan says. “Something to help him stop with the nausea and vomiting.”
Except he’s not the only one handing out medical advice. “Mind you, when I’m interviewing the patient and his mom, the flight attendant is jumping in each time,” says Jordan. “Interjecting and telling me her own plan. Telling me how to ask questions to this specific patient. And I’m taken aback.”
‘I Would Never Tell This Individual How to Be a Flight Attendant’
Jordan took that moment to address the flight attendant. “I look back at her, and I say, ‘Can I just talk to the patient, please?’” he recalls. “She lets me finish. Then, after we’re done, we do our chat. I do a physical exam. I reassure the mom.”
He determines that the plane is equipped with a medicine lockbox that contains the anti-nausea medicine Jordan wants to administer to the child. “They have their medicine lockbox, but they have to break the box open,” he explains. This would prove to be a sticking point.
“Tell me why I say this kid needs this, and the flight attendant tells me, ‘No, he doesn’t. We’ll just wait and see if X, Y, Z happens again, then you can choose to give it to him,’” he says. “I tell her we’re supposed to give it to him to prevent X, Y, Z. Mind you, this is a flight attendant telling me how to do my job. I would never tell this individual how to be a flight attendant.”
Yet again, the subject of whether Jordan is a real doctor came up. “Ultimately, I think a big reason why they didn’t break into the [medicine] is they didn’t believe me. They said, ‘Well, it’s very complicated. If you had the medical ID, it would be easier.’ But I guarantee you, if it was someone else that looked not like me, they would’ve opened it. No questions asked. The whole interaction was so unpleasant.”
A Second Call for Help
To make the situation even more unbelievable, Jordan says the crew announced a second call for help later in the flight. He initially thought he was dreaming, but eventually got up and addressed the second call. Jordan determined that the issue was not an emergency either. But the worst part is that an entirely different set of flight attendants also questioned his credentials.
“It’s exhausting having to defend my title,” he says at the end of the video. “I’m very thankful that both individuals are doing fine. But it’s exhausting having a title and being seen as less than.”
Viewers React to the Story
In the comments section, viewers reacted with shock and outrage at the way Jordan was treated by the flight crew.
“Racism can cost someone’s life yet people never learn,” wrote one person.
“I would’ve said do you need help or not?” said a second person.
“File a complaint,” suggested a third person. “Do not let this slide.”
Other viewers said they’ve experienced similar treatment while flying. “Happened to me,” wrote one person. “They didn’t believe me. Said I needed to show them my medical license as proof before I could help. White dude walked up to me and said, ‘I’m a doctor, too’ and without hesitation or question they let him tend to the patient.”
This is not an uncommon occurrence. In 2016, a Black doctor said she was questioned by multiple Delta flight attendants about her qualifications—even after producing a medical license. Delta refined its training in this area after the scandal.
@jordankenfackmd Story time #residency #doctor #medicine #intern #premed ♬ original sound – Dr. Jordan
The Mary Sue reached out to Jordan via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
