Hello Twitter, my name is Jane’e, a current medical student, at a UC and I would like to share my experience. I’ve been hesitant to share this, but I have come to realize how important it is to hold our institutions accountable for discrimination and perpetuating systemic racism.

Given the powers and structures in place that protect and reinforce racism and discrimination in medical education, minority students are often left without the time and resources to defend themselves when faced with ordeals that threaten their equal access to education.

This is an issue and process that has been going on for years and I can no longer remain quiet. I have sacrificed my time, money, and sanity to pursue this case against the UC Regents. So here we go…

In my second year of medical school, I was subjugated to baseless discriminatory accusations, mistreatment and harassment by one of my professors. I was falsely accused of plagiarism and subject to discipline through professionalism consultations and a strict remediation program.

Though I took my concerns to administration, I was told by one dean to “ suck it up” while a different high level administrator recommended that I “complete the remediation with grace [and] dignity [since] the alternate path is a bitter one”.

Despite my cooperation and compliance with the subpar advice and unjust treatment- this same professor utilized a new policy (a feed-forward system), to further punish me by spreading defamatory remarks regarding my character to my future instructors and evaluators.

She described me as a struggling student having “ professionalism issues” and a “negative attitude problem”. Ringing a bell that couldn't be unrung- this commentary continues to affect me to this day.

It was later determined that, indeed, there was no plagiarism.

I exhausted all internal avenues working with administrators to discontinue the harassment and mitigate the damage done. Finally once deans and admin had convinced me that they were powerless to intervene- I decided to pursue legal action.

Self represented- I filed a suit against my institution to give the administration an incentive to stop the mistreatment, to defend myself and to clear my name. I managed to do this all the while trying to complete my medical training. It has been 3 years of fighting this case.

Though I have tried to settle the claim, the UC’s response was an anti-SLAPP motion in which the UC seeks to dismiss my claim and force me to pay their attorney’s fees.

Not only have I lost time, & over $100,000 in grants and scholarships, but this has also been detrimental to my wellness, medical training, personal & professional relationships. It is still unclear the impact this will have on my future as a medical professional & residency apps

This is yet another example of how medical institutions weaponize professionalism against Black students. #BlackInTheIvory

If you can, donate to Janee’s legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/janee039s-legal-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1