Implicit Bias in Healthcare is Proving to be a Barrier for Minority Doctors and Patients

When you think of a doctor, a nurse, or any medical professional, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it healthcare? Is it bedside manner? Is it a white, able-bodied man? 

For a very long time in this country, the healthcare system had a running streak of prioritizing white men, both as practitioners and as patients. . As time progressed, we slowly saw the integration of women into the medical world – however, with the major contention that they serve as nurses and other medical assisting roles. When evaluating the historical precedent of the medical industry, the clear legacy of excluding minority communities is hard to miss. The consequences of this perpetuated systematic barrier are still felt in today’s healthcare system.

Now, it is unfair to contend that there has been no change in the healthcare system. Of course we can note the drastic integration of minority and marginalized communities within the medical sphere today. In 1940 – the midst of the Jim Crow Era, especially in the South – it was incredibly rare to find a Black doctor for medical services. In fact, only 2.8% of physicians were Black. That number seems astonishing but the reality is: Black people had no access to medical schools until after the Civil War. Between 1868 and 1904, only seven medical schools in the United States were established to educate aspiring Black doctors in the community.

Today, the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that a mere 5.7% of physicians in this country are Black. The danger in this small number is its inability to fully encompass the larger percentage of Black people in the country – many of whom will turn to physicians who look and relate to them. 

Many minority doctors and medical professionals face a monster known as implicit bias. This unconscious prejudice is affecting how people interact with these professionals and at times, resulting in discriminatory consequences. This can present itself in a multitude of ways such as unequal treatment from colleagues and patients. Additionally, minority staff are viewed as less competent than their white counterparts; and are often subjected to higher scrutiny. 

“I see a real need for healthcare leaders, who are predominantly able-bodied white men, to invest in long term changes that work to fix many of the biases within their organizations and across healthcare. Hospital systems and their cultures are the source of many of the problems that lead to minorities receiving poorer quality care and health outcomes,” says Sarah M. Worthy, CEO of DoorSpace.

But, it’s not just doctors or medical staff enduring this bias; it is also marginalized community members seeking healthcare. Minority patients tend to have their concerns dismissed more frequently through the higher rates of misdiagnosis they receive comparative to their white counterparts. They receive less pain management options and are prescribed fewer medications. The truth is: minority patients just do not trust the healthcare system.

Worthy continues: “We have studies that show minorities receive lower quality care due to unconscious biases and a lack of adequate training. We have studies that show minority clinicians are more likely to experience burnout as a result of these biased experiences. And now we have a recent study by JAMA that shows when physicians are burned out (which we know the majority are), they are more likely to make racist and biased judgment calls. Healthcare leaders need to recognize their decisions and ask themselves what they can be doing differently to improve both the patient experience as well as the employee experience for all of us.”

The healthcare system in this country has seen much progression over the last few centuries, however, it is still not enough. Physicians and medical staff members who originate from minority communities should be treated with the same decency and respect their white colleagues are. It isn’t 1904 anymore; these physicians and medical personnel have received similar educations and should be treated accordingly. Patients arriving from minority communities need not be given another reason to feel isolated and marginalized. Their healthcare spaces should feel safe. Together, we can strive towards a more equitable healthcare system that does not discriminate based on race or background.