The world over, there is a growing movement to make medicine more inclusive and diverse. And there are pressing reasons for the emphasis — better patient outcomes and reducing healthcare disparity.
Published in 2021, a paper, ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medicine: Why It Matters and How do We Achieve It?’, talks about how diversity remains nascent and less researched despite being increasingly accepted and prioritized. Other compelling reasons for the same are that students trained in diverse colleges are comfortable treating patients from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. From the patient’s end, studies say that a patient belonging to a racial or ethnic minority group prefers a physician from their group.
Closer home, in India, a study published in Lancet has shown that having more women doctors can be crucial to saving lives in rural areas. The study ‘Access to women physicians and uptake of reproductive, maternal and child health services in India’ says that lower availability of female physicians can compromise women’s healthcare seeking, even when the need is the greatest. The study indicates that ‘higher women physician availability in rural primary care reported higher reproductive and maternal health care utilization’.
Recruit and retain
The 2021 paper also points out areas within medicine for a holistic approach. These include recruiting diverse faculty and general surgery trainees. Recruiting a diverse pool would mean adopting a more inclusive language and structured interviews. Apart from recruiting, there is also a need to retain different groups by engineering an inclusive culture. These include mitigating implicit bias and adopting cultural intelligence that is receptive to all backgrounds.
Batting for allyship
The same paper stresses the need for a white male to step in to be an effective ally. Even as the change is evident, leadership positions are still the forte of the white male. This group needs to create a level playing field for the underrepresented groups, sponsoring and championing the cause of diversity, equity and inclusion.
In a nutshell, here is how DEI can be implemented in medicine:
- Prioritize and action diversity initiatives
- Set up policies and procedures
- Create a culture of inclusion
- Promote mentorship
Though scattered, there is evidence and pressing arguments in favor of structuring DEI goals in medicine. While the work has begun, there is a growing need to build on it consciously and with commitment.
