HEALTHCARE DVW ZHHN , ơHZ IURP %HUPXGD WR Boston with my family, when a stewardess approached and asked if I ZDV D GRFWRU , ZDV XQVKDYHQ D OLWWOH VFUXƾ\ but she noticed some medical images on my computer and assumed my profession. A gentleman a few rows ahead was in distress. , ORJJHG RXW DQG WUXQGOHG XS WR ƜUVW FODVV to see what was going on. The diagnosis turned out to be too much alcohol and DQ HVFDODWLQJ SDQLF DWWDFN EXW P\ HƾRUWV HDUQHG PH SURIXVH WKDQNV IURP WKH VWDƾ DQG D ơLJKW YRXFKHU 1LFH A few months ago, my daughter met another doctor who helped a patient on a plane. Dr. Fatima Stanford works at Massachusetts General Hospital and is an assistant professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In 2018, she attended to a distressed airline passenger but was repeatedly interrupted E\ DLUOLQH VWDƾ DVNLQJ WR VHH KHU PHGLFDO credentials. As part of a Communications assignment, my daughter attended a lecture by Dr. Stanford at Boston University’s School of Public Health and met her afterwards. Here’s the article she wrote:
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+DUYDUG 3URIHVVRU 6D\V 5DFLDO %LDV LQ 0HGLFLQH 0XVW 6WRS by Chiara M. Marshall Allowing minorities to have a voice is essential to eliminating racial bias in the health profession, an assistant Harvard University professor said during a talk at BU’s School of Public Health last Wednesday. Recognising that this issue not only DĆľHFWV PLQRULWLHV EXW HYHU\RQH LV WKH ĆśUVW step to making changes said Dr. Fatima Stanford, who made national news in 2018 IRU DOOHJHGO\ EHLQJ UDFLDOO\ SURĆśOHG RQ D 'HOWD ơLJKW )OLJKW DWWHQGDQWV UHSHDWHGO\ asked for her credentials while she administered care and asked if her medical license was hers. “Our degrees don’t protect us,â€? said Stanford, who specialises in obesity medicine as a Massachusetts General Hospital physician. “Despite the fact that I have four [of them], did two residences, did two fellowships, and actually had P\ PHGLFDO OLFHQVH RQ PH WKH ơLJKW attendant had the audacity to ask me if [the license] was mine.â€? Addressing several hundred Boston University undergraduates, graduates 14
Racial bias in medicine Award-winning cardiologist Dr. Shane Marshall asks if racial bias in medicine is bad for your health?
and medical students, Stanford said that acknowledging that the current system is creating barriers for non-white professionals is paramount to stopping discrimination. This comes at a time where the total medical school enrollment for non-white students is at a historic high, according to a 2019 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Diminishing the potential discrimination IDFHG ZRXOG FUHDWH D EXWWHUơ\ HƾHFW improving healthcare employment for the next generation, said Stanford. She also said one of the main problems is non-white students not seeing representation within WKHLU ƜHOG
The event’s organiser, an associate professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health, said that witnessing this representation should start in schools, but that this is not currently a reality. ĹŁ, DP RIWHQ WKH ĆśUVW >SURIHVVRU@ RI FRORU that many [Boston University] students have ever had,â€? said Dr. Yvette Cozier, who specialises in epidemiology. “And I teach graduate school.â€? Cozier believes that representation within the health profession can reduce the stereotypical image of doctors being white men, but this process may take time. Measures to promote diversity are now gaining traction. From 1986 to 2016, there was a 51% increase in the number Health & Beauty Fall/Winter 2020/21
