Posted on 11/15/2008 7:56:41 PM PST by neverdem
Doctor and Patient
Last Tuesday, like most of the country, I stayed up too late watching the election results come in and then became emotional when it was clear that Barack Obama, an African-American, was going to be our next president. Wednesday morning’s New York Times captured the most salient part of the moment for me in its headlines: “Racial Barrier Falls in Decisive Victory.”
But a few days later, as I thought more about racial barriers, I started to question my election euphoria. In politics, the racial barriers might have fallen, I thought, but what about in health care?
There is no question that racial barriers still exist in many parts of this society. The first time I remember having a frank conversation about racial barriers in medicine was during my residency.
Of all the surgical residents I trained with, “Eric” was easily one of the smartest. He possessed a great bedside manner, brilliant clinical skills and plenty of that Obama cool. Eric was African-American, and one night, when we were both on call together, he told me something I have never forgotten.
“You know, Pauline,” he said, “there are a lot of times when I go to a patient’s room for the first time and they ask me, 'Are you transport? Are you here to wheel me to radiology?’” I can remember Eric shaking his head as he spoke. “They never assume I’m one of the doctors.”
Most of the research over the last 30 years has focused on the racial inequalities that affect patients; and the findings have been dismal. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine published a report that cited multiple examples of disparities across a wide range of health care and disease settings. African-Americans, for instance, were more likely to undergo less desirable procedures like...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The one thing that The New York Times will never run out of is evidence of racism.
People need to watch more TV. TV ads are always showing African Americans as smart, as bosses, as doctors, etc. All dumb or incompetent people are white males. Why don't people believe the evidence of their eyes, right in front of them on the screen?
No barf Alert!
obama is not African-American.
He’s mostly Arab on his father’s side and not even likely American on his mothers.
obama is not African-American.
He’s mostly Arab on his father’s side and not even likely American on his mothers.
1/8 black and questionable American does not an African-American make.
And the a lot of the patients assume I am their nurse. So what? The patients get over it and so do I. If I was offended everytime someone mistook me for other than a physician, I would spend my whole life being offended. Although, come to think of it, that may be the point of this article. Never mind!
We can all acknowledge that racism still exists. However, these stories coming out of the NYT are ridiculous.
For a doctor, she sure doesn’t understand the phenomenon very well. Her Obama-euphoria subsided as she “started thinking about healthcare” she says. As if it just dawned on her that people carry their prejudices with them wherever they go.
Also noted was the phrase “Obama cool” in describing this young black doctor. I wonder what she thought of him before she heard of Obama? Was he just cool? Was he a dork? A sign that blackness in America will now be described with Obama-referenced terms and phrases.
Affirmative action devalues the professional credentials of all minorities.
When I got my engineering degree, I started as the first female engineer a small manufacturer ever had. Never mind I’d co-oped there before - it took several months and a lot of strong words to end all doubt - “I don’t take your notes, and I don’t get your coffee”.
Most of the physicians I really admire were educated in India, China, Pakistan and Mexico.
The best of the best emigrate to the States. It's pretty tough to get into a competitive residency program in the United States as it is. The post-grad medical programs here are the best. Those who do so coming from a foreign country, speaking a non-native language, and then succeed in completing one of these programs have a achieved something noteworthy.
I will deign to consider them as candidates to be my physician.
Ben Carson (a pediatric neurosurgeon who’s pioneered several procedures) writes of the adverse effects of affirmative action - his patients’ parents would frequently devalue his skills, not because he was black per se but because they thought he got where he was by affirmative action rather than merit. He said the blacks themselves were the most suspicious of him.
If "Eric" attributes this to racism, "Eric" is not very smart. It bears NO RESEMBLANCE to racism. It is a matter of statistics. If a white guy in medical garb walks into your hospital room, statistically he is likely the doctor. If a female walks into your room, she is likely the nurse, if a black guy walks into your hospital, he is likely an orderly.
To correct the erroneous impression that is disturbing "Eric", hospitals need to fire most of the orderlies and replace them with white orderlies. They also need to hire many black doctors. Since there are not many available, we would have to import them from overseas.
This is only the beginning, it will never end.
“And the a lot of the patients assume I am their nurse. So what?”
Excellent point!
Also, isn’t it also possible that someone could have voted for Obama and mistook him for a nurse or aide? All is not lost NY Times....
I totally agree with your post. What if we all chose to not be offended?
Great post. You are absolutely correct.
Too bad the Ny Times gains nothing by these set of facts you mention though...
You bet it does.
Two parts of society that are reasonably free of ugly PC affirmative action are medicine and the military.
Belonging to the right group might get you your first post, but it won't get you promoted.
If you want to know who the good doctors are ask one of the middle-aged female RN's in the ER. Their first husbands were all physicians.
They know who's competent, who's a dick-head, who shows up on-call after drinking, who stands by their patients, etc...
Get over yourself, folks. Give people time to adjust to changes. Don't assume it's racism. Sometimes it's just a transition from what was to what is.
Maybe Dr. Chen should spend a little less time writing racist articles for the Times and more time on her patients?
Nah. Easier to blame Whitey.
What we have here, little yellow sister, is a magnificent specimen of pure California Whitesnake. But it ain't too goddamned beaucoup.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.