I’m a clinician and professor at Rush University Hospital working in the up-and-coming field of cardio-oncology. My interest in clinical trial research came from my time as a cardiology fellow at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Now, I carry on a lot of research in my field of cardio-oncology studying heart disease in cancer patients.
As I got involved in research I had to enroll as many patients as I could, whether it was Black, white, Asian—it didn’t matter. And when I saw how difficult it could be to enroll certain groups of patients, I started to ask questions. So as a Black doctor, if I didn’t see myself represented in a trial, how am I going to translate that trial to my patients that are Black?
One pretty prevalent thing, and the message that you always get consistently from people, is that it’s difficult to enroll Black patients. And so the question always comes up—why is that? What are the reasons for this and why are there such disparities? It often starts with doctor-patient rapport.
How Doctors Can Improve Rapport With Black Patients Around Clinical Trials
Building Trust
A few things influence Black people to try clinical trials. One is trust—having someone who looks like them that they can talk to about getting enrolled. When I enter a room and meet a Black patient for the first time, particularly one who has just been referred to my clinic, their eyes light up when I introduce myself as their cardiologist. They feel like they’re in safe hands because I look like them Very importantly, they feel if they have concerns, they can voice them to me without judgment I will take their concerns to heart. And I will do my best to try to take care of their concerns.
So that trust is established and maybe after a few visits or a year or two and there’s a trial that comes out and I say to them ”Would you be interested in getting enrolled in the trial?”
Even if I did not look like the patient, a very important part of building trust in talking to someone about getting enrolled in a trial is by taking the time to explain what the risks of the trial might be.