Judging a Book by it's Cover - American Healthcare

If you are an upper or middle class white male you should feel fairly comfortable in and happy with America's healthcare system. That's not to say there aren't exceptions to that, but over all the system works to help you - as it should. Alternatively, people of color, most specifically black Americans, and women face certain challenges or barriers in getting the care they need. At the cross section of that more vulnerable population are black women who are often failed by healthcare providers. The most obvious place to see it is when looking at the rates of pregnancy-related death. When compared to other developed countries, America has the highest rate of pregnancy-related death and non-hispanic black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die than white women. 

The fact that America seems to be so far behind in caring for women after childbirth is already appalling but when you factor in the obvious disparity based solely off race it becomes even more concerning. There have been countless news stories about women of color complaining to their physician of pain following childbirth and the physician simply dismissing it as normal. In some cases the providers didn't perform any kind of physical evaluation. Overall it seems as though they weren't really listening to the women and the results were often devastating. 

I believe the American healthcare system needs extensive reform when it comes to caring for mothers post childbirth, but this is also indicative of a larger problem in the system where people of color and women are often dismissed or not given the best care. For another example, I can think of two different female friends of mine who went repeatedly to the doctor and complained of lower abdominal pain only to be told it probably wasn't anything too bad or maybe just a strange menstrual cycle. In both cases they had endometriosis and that went undiagnosed for years until they had gynecologists who really listened to them and figured it out. The pattern seems to be that when women complain of pain it isn’t taken entirely seriously by healthcare providers, and as mentioned this only appears to worsen for women of color, especially black women. 

One last example to mention was an experience I had while working in the cardiovascular center at Michigan Medicine. There I would speak to patients in their room before the physician came in and one day I had a conversation with an African American man that reflected another problem. He asked if he could run some questions by me to rehearse them before his physician came in so I told him I couldn’t give any medical advice but that I would be happy to listen. After he read his questions to me from his note pad he explained to me that he’s felt physicians tend not to listen to him or fully answer his questions unless they are completely polished. From his perspective he did believe this to be due to his race or his perceived lack of education from the healthcare providers. This experience seems to mirror the experiences mentioned above of women not being heard. Overall, there is an issue with the way women and people of color are treated within our healthcare system and it is in dire need of reform.