Representation Is in the Small Things
Recent analysis on diversity and trust in healthcare highlights that representation across health systems is closely tied to patient communication, trust, and equity, particularly for historically underserved communities. When care environments reflect the people they serve, patients are more likely to feel heard, understood, and engaged in their care (World Economic Forum, 2025).
There has been a lot of conversation about why representation matters in healthcare. Most of it centers on having providers who look like us or professionals who understand our communities. And that matters. It truly does.
But representation is not only about who delivers the care or the credentials. Sometimes, it shows up in much smaller ways.
As a symptomatic V122I gene carrier, I attend annual visits with my amyloidosis care team. I still remember my very first one clearly. It was long, overwhelming, and filled with more unknowns than answers. I was anxious walking in, unsure of what to expect and quietly bracing myself for what might come next.
Over the course of those days, I saw many faces. People from different backgrounds and roles, all moving with purpose and professionalism. Every interaction mattered. But there is one moment that has stayed with me more than the rest.
It was with a young Black woman who was preparing me for a PYP scan.*
She explained the process and began inserting the IV. As I pulled up my sleeve, I glanced down and said, almost without thinking, “Ugh, I’m so ashy today… sorry.”
She laughed. Not politely. Not awkwardly. She laughed because she culturally understood what being ashy in public meant, a shared understanding that needed no explanation.
There was no pause. No explanation needed. No translation required. In that moment, that familiarity eased the tension I had been carrying and stayed with me for the rest of the procedure.
That is representation.
Not because she was my physician.
Not because she was offering medical guidance.
But because she made a clinical space feel human.
When you are navigating something rare, genetic, or uncertain, anxiety often enters the room before you do. Small moments of connection can quiet that anxiety in ways protocols and reassurance alone sometimes cannot.
Representation lives in the tone.
In the shared understanding.
In not having to explain yourself.
It is the comfort of being seen during moments when vulnerability is unavoidable.
As conversations continue about diversity in healthcare, I hope we expand how we define it. Representation is not only about who leads the care team. It is also about who walks alongside you and how those interactions shape your experience.
For me, that moment mattered. It reminded me that care is not delivered only through tests and technology, but through humanity.
That is the kind of representation that stays with you.
* PYP scan: A technetium-99m pyrophosphate (PYP) scan is a specialized nuclear imaging test used to help detect transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis in the heart. It involves injecting a small amount of tracer into the bloodstream and taking images to assess whether amyloid protein has accumulated in the heart muscle. It is commonly used in the evaluation and monitoring of cardiac ATTR amyloidosis.
