Racial and Ethnic Bias Is Ubiquitous

The Institute of Medicine found evidence that, whether they know it or not, many providers treat their patients differently depending on the patient's race and ethnicity. Similarly, a review in Family Medicine found consistent evidence that race, ethnicity, and language had a substantial influence on the quality of the doctor-patient relationship. Patients who are culturally different from their providers, especially patients not proficient in English, were less likely to engender an empathetic response from physicians, establish rapport with physicians, receive sufficient information, and be encouraged to participate in medical decision-making. This study concluded that physicians need to be more effective in developing relationships and in communicating with patients of different ethnic groups and races than their own (Ferguson 2002). To do this, physicians must monitor their own comfort level with each patient and commit to establishing therapeutic rapport, even with patients with whom they are uncomfortable.

Providers need to begin with the realization that bias is inherent in all of us. We may naturally make assumptions about others based on race and ethnicity. These assumptions have been shaped by experiences we have had with people from different cultural groups, what we have been told by our families and friends, and how the media has presented different peoples.

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