A few things that surprised me while reading the articles were that women’s issues can be immediately dismissed and overlooked, race and/or sexual orientation can affect the treatment you receive from some people in the medical field, and that power of attorney was overlooked. I think the greatest surprise occurred while reading about Dr Wyatt. In that article there did not seem to be a lot of consideration to the patient care. His wife who could have given information about him and had the power to do so was ignored. In addition, I was surprised at how little education is given in relation to the care of LGBT patients. Only having a few hours to cover this patient population over the course of four years of schooling is definitely not right. Furthermore, the health care provider’s personal thoughts and feelings should not stand in the way of the patient’s right to care. Lastly, I was surprised at the prevalence of women’s health concerns being dismissed and ignored. Women’s health should be just as important as men’s health, and they should be thought of more while doing clinical trials. Some ways to challenge these biases in the future would be to expand the education given to health care providers on each of these patient populations. By expanding the amount of education given on each of these groups it can hopefully help propel us in the right direction and diminish the biases that are present in our current health care system.
Biases in Health Care
Published by julissacobos
My name is Julissa Cobos and I am a Sociology major at CSUEB. My preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I grew up and still live in Hayward. A few important things about me are that I am passionate about helping others, love to be outdoors, and meeting new people. What drew me to Medical Sociology was the fact that is was a class related to the health field. I have always been interested in health and I look forward to learning this semester. What I am most looking forward to this year is finally getting my drivers license- I know I'm late to the game. View more posts
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I think there is a lot ignorance happening with regard to the physician seeing these patients. They often care enough to see “average” people and only care for those who they have have value or even influence. Many physicians probably do this because they know they are covered by their hospital. I have a friend who gave birth and the doctor accidentally cut her kidneys. She went through 2 surgeries after giving birth and when tried to sue the doctor the attorney told her that it would be very hard to win the case. The hospital would support the physician because they are also covering the reputation of the hospital. It is so sad to see things like this happen and there aren’t any repercussions. I think doctors can and will make mistakes because people are not perfect but I think educating them that there could serious consequences that they also need to be held for their action is important. It is just as important as educating a patient to be more assertive with their health and ask the questions, instead of accepting whatever they give or say to you. Questioning authority is not a bad thing. its also about being aware and cautious that not everyone has the same interest in you as you do for yourself in regard to your health.
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Hi Julissa. I can agree with you that race and/or sexual orientation can affect the way people are treated. It is sad that even in the medical field, people are being treated differently because of who they are. I like how you mentioned the idea of expanding our education on several issues so that we can get rid of the biases in the healthcare system. We as a society should acknowledge the problem and make a change. Without it being heard, how is this going to be resolved and create a fair system?
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hi Julissa, I agree with you, there should not be any preference when it comes to a person’s health! Man, woman, etc. should be treated equally and not based it off gender, sexual orientation or race. It is sad and pathetic at the same time that this society still faces a significant amount of discrimination based on our gender and skin color as these are places where a person can the help they need when it comes to health.
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I, like you, was shocked at how women’s concerns were dismissed during their medical office visits. I found it appalling as well that women were not taken into consideration in some medical studies yet were prescribed medication not knowing the adverse reactions. I agree with you that more education is needed for practitioners so they are able to meet this changing community that we live in today.
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