A black medical student has created a handbook for future doctors to help them recognise conditions on darker skin after only being taught how to diagnose white patients.
Malone Mukwende, a second year student at St George’s, University of London, wrote Mind the Gap, to help other medics recognise potentially life-threatening diseases on BAME people.
The book contains side-by-side images showing how illnesses appear on light and dark skin, as well as telling doctors language which is appropriate to use with patients.
Speaking to the British Medical Journal, Mr Mukwende said: ‘On arrival at medical school I noticed a lack of teaching about darker skin.
A university spokesperson said: ‘It was agreed that this was a very important issue and an essential part of decolonizing the curriculum.’
They point to Kawasaki disease, a rare condition that mainly affects children under the age of five.
It’s characteristic symptoms include a rash, swollen glands, dry or cracked lips, red fingers or toes and red eyes.
On white skin, this appears as a red blotchy rash, but it’s much harder to spot on darker skin.