If your child was sick, would you demand to see a White doctor?

This woman did so loudly, rudely and with pride. And no, this isn't in the US. She's Canadian. I thought they were all so chill? Anyway, grab some popcorn and a drink if you have 4 minutes to never get back.

https://youtu.be/Zl5JKDIlsbU

no, I certainly wouldn't. I'd also refuse to treat her in my practice if she did this.

Am I surprised that someone would reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender? Nope.

I looked to see if this was some remote place in western Canada but no, its a big city right next to Toronto.

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

Different from rejecting a physician of color, is there an ethnic physician you would prefer to have treat you?

I suppose if language were an issue, that's where I can understand caring about ethnicity. Other than that, it shouldn't matter. But I am not surprised people care. I've heard comments around race/accent/ethnicity with regard to doctors a number of times and it wasn't 100 years ago and it was in NY/NJ area.

that's not much better.

Gilgul said:

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

Gilgul said:

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

which "not from a U.S." countries are we talking about? 

ml1 said:

Gilgul said:

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

which "not from a U.S." countries are we talking about? 

Any foreign medical schools outside maybe some in Europe or the Caribbean schools that operate much like U.S. schools. From a practical standpoint in our area that mostly means Indian schools. But to be clear I only look at the school (or in some cases the residency). I have no issue with an immigrant schooled and trained in the U.S.  

I tend to prefer women doctors. I don't insist on seeing women doctors but all things being equal, I'd pick a woman doctor. Not sure why. Maybe because I've seen many women doctors over the years and feel comfortable with their demeanor. Sexist?  You tell me. 

is there any data that suggests doctors trained in India are any less effective than those who study elsewhere?

Gilgul said:

ml1 said:

Gilgul said:

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

which "not from a U.S." countries are we talking about? 

Any foreign medical schools outside maybe some in Europe or the Caribbean schools that operate much like U.S. schools. From a practical standpoint in our area that mostly means Indian schools. But to be clear I only look at the school (or in some cases the residency). I have no issue with an immigrant schooled and trained in the U.S.  

I will admit I have none. But I do what I do. I have no reason to think Harvard Medical School is any better than Rutgers. But I likely would choose a Harvard trained doctor over a Rutgers one in my hierarchy.

I'm not going to pretend that I look up mortality rates or other data on physicians I go to.  But if I was going to go to the trouble of looking up a doctor's background, I'd rely on information that has been shown to correlate with positive outcomes.  I think it's odd to go to the work of doing the research, but not to use information demonstrated to be relevant.

Gilgul said:

I will admit I have none. But I do what I do. I have no reason to think Harvard Medical School is any better than Rutgers. But I likely would choose a Harvard trained doctor over a Rutgers one in my hierarchy.

Is it a class thing?

The paramount variable for me in choosing doctors (and every other kind of service or vendor) is references.  I will sometimes use MOL for that.  Search a specialty and see who gets multiple recs.  

In defense of Gilgul, I think what he said is a variation of the preference given to elite colleges over less selective schools by employers.  The kids with the better academic records are more likely to get into the desired U.S. schools.  Academic performance is not a certain predicter of job performance, but if that's all you have to go on, it's all you have to go on.    

To answer the OP: No way! Turns out that all of my doctors currently are white, but that has not always been the case.

To address the only US schooled doctors: My neurologist, who I respect highly, recommended me to an internist who graduated from an Eastern European medical college. He is a very good internist.

Having a breakdown, in front of her child no less, because the physician isn't white is ridiculously unreasonable and verges, IMO, on her being unhinged. If her child was indeed ill, her motherly instincts should have overpowered her racism. I wonder if the child was ever seen by a physician? Isn't that a slight form of child abuse to not allow a sick child to be seen by a physician while at the hospital or clinic?

We've seen her type on the news, online, etc. Many believe if they're loud enough or hostile enough in their racism, their ilk will publicly agree with them and come to their defense. I've yet to see this happen.

btw the most serious surgeries I've had were done by non-white doctors.  I researched it, they were the guys to go to.    

The woman is ignorant and racist.  Had she been able to convey properly that she would prefer an english-speaking doctor because it is very important for her to understand her child's medical status, she wouldn't have become an internet horror story.  Something in her mind told her that a white doctor would speak english and a non white doctor would not.   My thing with all these viral videos is why do we always look at the lowest common denominator? These uneducated people have always been out there, albeit without the instant fame that cell phone cameras and youtube enable.  As much as I detest this woman for her horrible way, I also feel like we are exploiting the uneducated and then sort of patting ourselves on the back for being so sophisticated in our beliefs.   But I digress..

ml1 said:

is there any data that suggests doctors trained in India are any less effective than those who study elsewhere?

Gilgul said:

ml1 said:

Gilgul said:

I did not and have no desire to view the link. While I would not reject a doctor of a certain race or ethnicity or gender I do google doctors and try to stay away from ones with a medical degree not from a U.S. medical school. 

which "not from a U.S." countries are we talking about? 

Any foreign medical schools outside maybe some in Europe or the Caribbean schools that operate much like U.S. schools. From a practical standpoint in our area that mostly means Indian schools. But to be clear I only look at the school (or in some cases the residency). I have no issue with an immigrant schooled and trained in the U.S.  

One of my doctors is from India.  I don't know if he studied there or here.  I don't care, and never even bothered to look it up.  He is highly recommended, both on MOL and among medical professionals, and is an excellent doctor.

ETA:  Because of the above post I did look him up.  He went to medical school in India and also did his internship there.  Like I said, he is highly recommended by many medical professionals, so obviously his education was not lacking in any respect.

spontaneous said:

One of my doctors is from India.  I don't know if he studied there or here.  I don't care, and never even bothered to look it up.  He is highly recommended, both on MOL and among medical professionals, and is an excellent doctor.

ETA:  Because of the above post I did look him up.  He went to medical school in India and also did his internship there.  Like I said, he is highly recommended by many medical professionals, so obviously his education was not lacking in any respect.

Now that you mention it, my cardiologist for the past 3 years is Indian. The excellent Dr. Gupta. It never occurred to me to question his ethnicity or origin. Or even ask where he went to school. He's a terrific doctor. I''m alive and healthy (and well-informed!) thanks to him. 

I also prefer doctors not too young and not to old. 35-50 is the sweet spot. While I have no problem staying with a doctor older than 50 or so, I likely would not, given the choice, start seeing one.

Isn't the question (of the original post) a no-brainer? If I preferred a white doctor, would I admit it here?

Tom_Reingold said:

Isn't the question (of the original post) a no-brainer? If I preferred a white doctor, would I admit it here?

This crossed my mind when I saw the post. How can anyone answer honestly without coming off as racist? They can't. 

You call me a bigot if you like, I don't care. But when I take my girl to the vet, I demand a human vet. I've read too many stories about those botched surgeries and badly-diagnosed illnesses and rx's out the ying-yang from those mouse vets. Where the hell do they get their get licenses anyway, Guadalajara?

ElizMcCord said:

Tom_Reingold said:

Isn't the question (of the original post) a no-brainer? If I preferred a white doctor, would I admit it here?

This crossed my mind when I saw the post. How can anyone answer honestly without coming off as racist? They can't. 

Easy, you can answer honestly without sounding like a bigot if you truly NOT a bigot!

Honestly, I am uncomfortable with people from India.  Usually they are polite and appropriate in professional situations, but I have been privy to many discussions with many people from India that were outright abusive in nature.  The attitude was that if you are not a doctor or engineer, you are worthless.  That makes me concerned that while they may be going through the professional motions, subconsciously they have an attitude against me because I am low class by their standards.

As far as foreign medical schools..depends on the country--and if that doctor is from that country.  A US citizen going to a little known foreign medical school indicates they could not get into a US school.  I forget the country offhand--but its a medical school of last resort for US citizens who can't get into a US school.

OMG. Surely this is some sort of joke? You can't possible have just stereotyped the people of an entire country? 

Apparently. 1.3 billion

conandrob240 said:

OMG. Surely this is some sort of joke? You can't possible have just stereotyped the people of an entire country? 

University of Grenada  

jmitw said:

Honestly, I am uncomfortable with people from India.  Usually they are polite and appropriate in professional situations, but I have been privy to many discussions with many people from India that were outright abusive in nature.  The attitude was that if you are not a doctor or engineer, you are worthless.  That makes me concerned that while they may be going through the professional motions, subconsciously they have an attitude against me because I am low class by their standards.




As far as foreign medical schools..depends on the country--and if that doctor is from that country.  A US citizen going to a little known foreign medical school indicates they could not get into a US school.  I forget the country offhand--but its a medical school of last resort for US citizens who can't get into a US school.