During episode four we ask the question: is a diverse healthcare workforce enough to eradicate racism in medicine?
My answer is no, and the guests on the show - an OBGYN, a nurse midwife, a traditional midwife, and a midwifery student - talk about why.
Although we discuss this matter from the perspective of pregnancy, birth, and reproductive health, this conversation is relevant for the entire healthcare system.
And while the episode is focused on how this diversity-based approach is an incomplete strategy to remedy health inequity, Dr. Camille Clare referenced the following studies that support increasing the Black healthcare workforce:
- Physician-patient racial concordance and disparities in birthing mortality for newborns.
- Black, Hispanic mothers report more pain after delivery but get less pain medication
- Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland
- Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians
- Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between Blacks and whites
Give them a read! And decide for yourself: is a diverse workforce enough? If not, what else can we do instead of or in addition to this strategy?
