Ending Racial Stereotyping in Medicine

Racial Stereotyping in medicine is when doctors falsely try to diagnose the patient based on his/her race

Many people do not know about it, but it affects a significant number of people

It can affect many people of different races as each race is stereotyped to different conditions or to never have those conditions

Ex: If a doctor thinks black people exaggerate pain more, then they may not be able to be attended to as quickly as other races, even if it might be severe.

Can affect a persons health if the doctor diagnoses a patient with the wrong condition

This can cause the patient not to get the right treatment on time, which may lead to the disease being worse.

It can also lead to the wrong medicine harming the body

This happens because some doctors believe in the stereotype and it makes their job easier by allowing them to narrow down the possible conditions patients could be diagnosed with.

Its a problem all over the world, as all doctors want to save money on diagnosing patients.

Specifically places where health insurance is expensive, like the United States, doctors want to save money by diagnosing faster.

It is also a problem outside of medicine, black people are commonly represented negatively in medicine, like they are always "fatter" and complain about overexaggerate pain, which is not true.

Raising awareness, as it is not a well-known social justice issue

By raising awareness, local health organisations understand the consequences, and give warnings for all doctors that work for the organisation (Region of Peel Health, Health Ontario) and may even do an investigation.