Doctor Pauline Chen wrote a great article in the New York Times last week about racial barriers in medicine, and it is well worth reading, if you haven’t read it already. I realize that not everyone trolls the Times websites looking for interesting articles, so you might not have spotted it, since it was kind of buried in the health section, for no discernible reason. (Or perhaps the same reason that articles about feminism are buried in the “Style” section and other articles about discrimination and prejudice somehow end up on the paper’s back 40*.)

I thought it was a really neat article because it looked at a couple of different perspectives. Dr. Chen wrote about the studies which have shown that minorities are less likely to receive topflight medical care, and she also talked about her experiences as an Asian-American doctor. The article really highlighted a lot of issues going on in medicine right now, and for people who think that racism is dead (not that any of you, dear readers, are that foolish), I think the article sounded a pretty resounding “no, it’s not.”

First, let’s talk about minority patients. Patients who are minorities are more likely to receive delayed care for treatable conditions. They often struggle to find coverage from insurance companies. They are belittled by their doctors, all of the options are not laid out for them, and they are often treated as second class citizens. Dr. Chen pointed out that most people report the most positive experience with a care provider of their own race, which I think says volumes about people of all races.

There is a huge disparity in this country when it comes to healthcare in many ways. But I think it’s really shameful that people with darker skin don’t get the same treatment as people with lighter skin, even when the people with darker skin have more power, economic clout, or education. The white high school dropout meth head will get better treatment than the black professional. That, my friends, is sick. All patients should be treated equally. Period. End of discussion.

Dr. Chen also illuminated the problems that minority doctors face. Now, I grew up under the care of an Asian-American doctor, so I’m pretty familiar with the idea that people other than white people can be doctors too, but apparently this fact is new to some Americans. Minority doctors are routinely ignored or treated like hospital staff (not that hospital staff don’t deserve respect from patients, mind you), and some patients may even request a doctor of a different skin color, as though you get to pick doctors like you pick ponies. This even holds true when the minority doctor is a renowned specialist, and he or she really is the best person the patient could want on his or her case.

I think that the American “health care” system needs to confront a lot of issues, and I’m hoping that many of these issues get confronted under the Obama Administration. But the fact that people of different colors can’t even get along bodes ill, if you ask me.

*For my foreign readers, “back 40″ is an Americanism referring to the “back 40 acres,” as in, the part of the ranch where no one goes if they can help it.

Clare Says is my NaBloPoMo featured blog today.

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