DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN HEALTHCARE AN ONGOING EFFORT By
Areeha Khalid Emory Kim
Imagine that you have been invited to a dinner party. You get all dressed up, you are super excited...and then when you arrive at the venue, you notice that all the seats are filled. You are standing there in an expensive suit after spending twenty minutes on your hair only to realize there is nowhere for you to sit. Not pleasant, right? Now, imagine this one more time. Except this time, you are a doctor, the dinner party is the hospital, and the featured dish is your patients. If there is no room for you at the table, will you ever get to the meal?
Diversity and Inclusion in Healthcare These days, the terms “diversity” and “inclusion” are often used interchangeably. However, they do not mean the same thing. Diversity is the incorporation of all different types of people into a group. In the scenario above, this means inviting people to the dinner party. By issuing more invites to all kinds of guests, you increase the diversity of people present.
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Inclusion means having equal opportunities and spaces to express your ideas within the larger group. If you are at the dinner party but there is no room for you to participate in the conversation or get to any of the dishes, then you are not “included” in the main space. This means that just because a space is diverse does not automatically mean it is also inclusive. Oftentimes, we get caught up in making sure things are outwardly diverse, whether that be through “cancel culture” on social media or excessive political correctness. However, these reactions are not necessarily the best way to bring about lasting change. When it comes to healthcare specifically, inclusivity needs to be a foundational part of the system. This means creating open environments in medical schools and research where diverse healthcare providers can learn to cater to diverse patient populations. From there, inclusivity will extend to hospitals through methods such as anti-racist practices, diverse hires, and culturally-sensitive training for current staff.
Diverse and Inclusive Patient Populations Dictate Medical Training and Research In debates about diversity and inclusion in healthcare, many argue that because doctors are trained to treat all humans, factors such as race, gender, or socioeconomic status should not affect their ability to provide necessary care. For example, a prevalent perspective in the U.S. right now is the idea of being “colorblind,” where one believes that since all humans are equal, disparities based on race should not be taken into account. The colorblind perspective is problematic because it instills a false sense of diversity that sounds more helpful than it is. However, research consistently shows that by ignoring diversity in medical training, doctors are actually less able to effectively treat patients. For example, many American dermatological textbooks are limited in the photos they contain of skin conditions on people with darker skin. Based on the colorblind perspective, this should not affect the quality of dermatological
