In Unequal Treatment:
Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities, Smedley et al talk about the racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare,
and how these reflect access to health care independent of insurance or
socioeconomic status of the patient.
As a Mexican immigrant, I have been there.
I have been that non-English speaking patient
that just smiles when the doctor speaks but has absolutely no idea what they
are saying. I have been the patient that medical students were allowed to
practice on without being asked if it was ok, the one that was left waiting for
hours in an emergency room without been seen because no provider wants to be
the one stuck using the translator (this takes twice as long or longer).
As medical students, health care providers, we have been
there. When we have a non-English speaking patient, our H&Ps are a little
bit shorter, our questions are less elaborate and even when using a translator
service there are gaps in the information we get from the patient. But how do
we change this? How can we better help our patients? Unequal
Treatment brings a good start, and is an easily accessible text. It discusses different recommendations for
health care providers, research initiatives and other information that would be
beneficial for everyone in health care, because we are all bound to encounter
patients who speak a language other than our own, and we want to be able to
treat these patients to the best of our abilities.
Maria Soledad Menchaca
DUCOM 2019
