- They openly lean left. This is pedagogical.
- They do not defend their conclusions. This is a cross for the TACer (and any intellect).
- They employ heavy filler in their presentations (this hurts the medical student soul; we're constantly thinking, "is this a good use of time?? I need to study G-coupled protein receptors!!").
- people do not need to look the same to treat each other without unjust disparity (she was asked before the lecture whether, if the racial distribution of doctors matched the racial distribution of patients, healthcare disparities would disappear)
- not all disparities in care are rooted in racism or biases (she found that poorer women were not getting mammograms in one office, but discovered that this was because these women were more likely to forget the referral they'd stuffed in their purse, being busier with their job(s) and other duties)
- our educational system bears guilt for many disparities, especially in patients' health literacy
- social studies in healthcare disparities has become an "industry" (her word), a self-perpetuating field that has yielded no improvement in the past twenty or thirty years; people's research uncovers the same findings (she called this "recycling" research) and little talk is had about actions that would change things
- make use of teachable moments, however short, to truly cause the patient to understand the need for the treatment you think is best
- you do not make progress without listening (a.k.a. with the context of the patient's position, such as their day-to-day challenges, their cultural impressions, etc.; she quoted Einstein as saying "No problem can be solved from the level of consciousness that created it.")
- be honest that you see people differently; know where you are on the spectrum between denying healthcare disparities and being very aware of your biases.
Now, I see more clearly. There are healthcare disparities, and they are more complex than our previous lecturers allowed. Moreover, I am not culpable for them. Further still, I can work to close them as much as naturally possible, not by policymaking, but by talking as earnestly and patiently as possible with each patient.
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