Increased diversity among medical professionals helps counteract the fears of racism, inequality, and other issues that may prevent patients of color from seeking out health care. A more diverse workforce also helps healthcare professionals learn from one another as the field expands to include people with differing backgrounds and perspectives.
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May 2019For David Brown, MD, associate vice president and associate dean for health equity and inclusion and associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, diversity’s benefits are rooted deeply in his career. He recalled a story one of his African-American residents told him when the resident first had to perform a tracheotomy on a child as an early-career otolaryngologist. The resident went to introduce himself to the patient’s family before beginning the procedure. Seeing that the resident was a person of color like themselves “created a sense of relief and trust,” he said.
“Seeing me, they said they didn’t feel like their child would be experimented on,” the resident told him.
Many marginalized communities have distrust of the healthcare system.“Having people who share their identities helps to foster stronger trust and communication and can lead to fewer healthcare disparities,” Dr. Brown added. Physicians of various ethnicities can help patients feel more comfortable, believing that the provider more fully understands their own cultural perspectives. Without that understanding, a patient’s lack of trust can be perceived as refusal to adhere to a physician’s orders.
As a result, “I no longer call a patient a non-compliant patient; if they don’t show up, you need to ask why,” said Dr. Brown. “Sometimes, they have transportation issues or there’s been a death in the family. If you are more open and more inclusive, you can find out more of the root cause, rather than just assuming they didn’t show up because they are ‘bad’ people.”
Efforts by medical schools and specialty associations and organizations to increase diversity helps build understanding among different groups of people, as well as improve the field of otolaryngology overall. Candidates with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences begin to fill the pipeline into medical schools, residencies, fellowships, and beyond.
“I would say [the subject of diversity] has become more front and center in the last few years, because the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has made it a priority to ask about the diversity composition of resident trainees,” said Cristina Cabrera-Muffly, MD, associate professor and residency program director in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. “Unfortunately, otolaryngology has one of the lowest rates of underrepresented minorities (URM) among medical and surgical residencies.”