Racism in the Medical Field
Introduction
Racism is shown is many different places in the world from shopping centers to hospitals to courts with a judge. It is a really pressing issue of our time. For this part of the website, we'll be focusing on the racism in the medical field specifically.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping is much too common in the healthcare field. Many doctors, nurses, and other staff sometimes treat patients differently and have the assumptions that they are less educated, poor, or just aren't respected. Some even assume they don't have any insurance, which is sometimes false.
Effects of Stereotyping:
-A lot of people with Hispanic last names are treated differently. Some doctors can make the immediate assumption that they are stupid and are lazy with their patients.
-One man said that he was talked to as if he was a child. Their attitude toward him changed when they found out what he did as a job.
-A doctor got married, and didn't take her husband's last name because she didn't want to be stereotyped. This shows that bias can go both ways.
Language Barriers
Language barriers happen every now and then. Sometimes doctors don't respect the patient and other times they try to get them to get extra unnecessary treatment.
In the Medical Field:
-If you have poor english, the doctors sometimes look down upon on you.
-Someone who can't explain is looked down by most of the staff, which is really upsetting for something they can't help.
-Some even had to deal with serious health conditions without the help of staff because of the color of their skin or the language they speak.
-One woman's son got sick, and didn't speak english. Her husband, on the way at the time, told her not to sign anything. Since the woman didn't speak english, the staff tried to get her to sign a paper for an unnecessary surgery.
Misdiagnosis
Many patients that aren't caucasian are misdiagnosed due to the doctors being lazy. The doctors and other staff do not do as thorough tests as they should, leading to misdiagnosis.
Patient Stories:
-A patient had appendicitis and it burst, and she was told that she had the stomach flu. This was common in IHS treatment centers.
-Some psychiatric patients are improperly diagnosed as being schizophrenic,because doctors don't listen.
-One woman's Ob-Gyn for the last fourteen years told her that she needed surgery, and she was pressured into doing it. Luckily, she saw another doctor and was told it wasn't necessary.
Conclusion
A lot of these biases are common in the healthcare field, and some staff don't even realize it. Many people are raised and taught these stereotypes, and after twenty to thirty years of believing this, it can be hard to break out of those stereotypes. That is why racism and the belief in stereotypes should be rooted out early to stop things like this from happening.