The diary entry I am choosing to expand upon which was about systemic racism in health care. This issue was initially brought to light to me through protests being put on by Ohio State medical students. This caught my attention because I am planning on pursuing a career in the medical field, so it was a very personal topic for me to research. As a pre-health student, I would like to think that there was equal opportunity for people to get health care, but as research shows, this is not the case.
Physicians, nurses, therapists, and other medical personnel are suppose to treat patients equally, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, financial status, etc. It is a sad truth that this is not carried out. As I did research, I came across many examples of stories of people having bad experiences in time when they needed health care due to their race. These situations include people getting inadequate healthcare, or getting refused healthcare altogether.
As I referenced in my initial post, The Latern published an article reporting protests of Ohio State medical students standing up against medical racism. The article mentioned what kinds of personal biases make health professionals give lesser attention to people of minority races, such as misconceptions of differences in pain tolerance. According to an article in Harvard Health Publishing, a woman went into the emergency room for a perfectly valid reason, but the staff at that hospital refused to give her medical attention. This is not an example them just giving her less than she deserved, but an example of being turned away completely. The medical staff accused her of wanting pain killers, even when her medical history did not validate that assumption. The woman said, “They couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.”(Harvard). This is one of many patients who did not get what they deserved, simply due to their race.
The protests at Ohio State were a step in the right direction. A necessary step in moving forward is addressing problems so that they can be fixed. People need to be willing to call out others, and call out themselves, for gravitating toward theses tendencies. The health care system should be available equally to all citizens, and because it is not, this is a form of systemic injustice. Systemic injustice is a problem that is very present in our society, but it is not unpreventable. It will, however, cease to get better, or even get worse, if people stay silent about it.
I would like to leave you with this powerful video from the White Coats for Black Lives. This not only embodies what the national issue is that I discussed, but shows what Ohio State is doing about it. This hits close to home and makes me proud to be a buckeye. This pressing issue of systemic injustice is unfortunately intertwined with so many parts of our society, and we need to address the problem head-on to fix it.
Link to YouTube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkcMpst177E
The Lantern (article and picture)
Ohio State medical students, staff and doctors challenge systemic racism in health
Harvard Health Publishing
Carly, I think this is a good example of Systemic Injustice I did not think about. I think this is especially a good example for you since this is something you can relate to and understand the struggle with. I do agree that “the protests at Ohio State were a step in the right direction”. I think it is good that this is even in the news and something people are talking about. I do hope we can fix the health care and provide everyone with equal help! Good job!
Carly, I think this is really interesting! I am also going into the medical field, so this definitely hits home to me. I work in a facility that has a diverse population of all different things, race, sex, ethnicity, religion, and wealth level. I see time and time again people being treated differently or at least the anxiety of being treated differently from so many people. I think it’s really important that you were able to focus on something like this and I think you did a great job!