Dr. Eldrin Lewis, an accomplished physician and clinical researcher who was recently appointed Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, is well aware of the persistent racial disparities in health care—for patients as well as doctors. As Lewis trains the next generation of cardiovascular surgeons at one of the country’s top medical schools, his own experiences remind him that his position does not prevent him and other Black doctors from being victims of racist assumptions.

While working as a surgeon, Lewis has been mistaken for a transporter, a medical student and even custodial staff, indignities that he says colleagues of other races and ethnicities suffer less frequently. “Every part of the hospital, every job is truly important, and we all work together,” he says. “But it is frustrating when you work so hard for so long―four years of college, four years of medical school and seven years of training―and you get confused for transport.”

Lewis’s journey to the top of his field has made it clear to him that many people, including his colleagues and patients, continue to see all Black men in the same way, and he wants that to change.

North from Mississippi

Lewis grew up in the Mississippi Delta and attended schools where history books featured the Confederate battle flag on the cover. His high school held racially segregated proms until 1987.

“Even though I was valedictorian of my high school, not a single counselor told me I should apply to Harvard or Yale or Princeton or Cornell,” he says. “They didn’t give me any advice. I had no clue.”

Lewis earned a B.S. from Penn State, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPH at Harvard, then trained, worked and taught at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During this time, he says, he was often called racial epithets and was repeatedly questioned about his credentials by patients. In one instance, during a summer research program, Lewis recalls that people in a passing pickup truck shouted racial slurs at him and a Black colleague.

After two decades in practice, Lewis joined Stanford Medicine in March 2020, assuming the top spot in its rigorous and renowned cardiovascular program. He says that, during his long passage from the Deep South to Pennsylvania and New England, the racism he encountered as a Black man did not subside, even as his career advanced and his reputation grew.

“What it made me realize,” Lewis says in a Medscape commentary, “is that I could have easily been George Floyd. Because if I get pulled over, they will treat me just like every other Black man. I always drive with my hospital ID in the car. I always keep my hands in plain sight. I have that level of anxiety every time I get behind the wheel of my car.”

Solving a critical problem

Lewis says racial insults are a sad reality—but not as unfortunate as the racial disparities in health outcomes that he and his Stanford team want to eliminate. Lewis recalls that the delayed response of hospital staff in his native Mississippi cost the life of one of Lewis’s relatives, a man in his forties who suffered a heart attack at 1 a.m. and waited six hours at a community hospital before being transported to a larger facility.

“By the time they finally called an ambulance, the damage to his heart was done. A simple heart attack that could have been fixed led him to die, all because of a lack of access to care,” Lewis says. “My question is, if he had been the mayor of the town, if he had been a selectman, if he had been a business owner, would they have waited until the morning to transport him? I think we all know the answer.”

Lewis sees his role at Stanford as an opportunity both to make lasting contributions to the field of cardiology and to help clear the path for Black colleagues, trainees and patients. “If you look at the top cardiology programs, there are only three Black chiefs of cardiovascular medicine,” he notes. “I’m excited to be the new Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford. I’m hoping by being here and doing a good job, others will say, ‘I can do that, too.’”

Learn more at Stanford Health Care.