Sep 7, 2020
Gender and racial bias are
pervasive across all aspects of society, medicine
notwithstanding. In this episode, Esther Choo
MD, MPH (@choo_ek), a titan for the cause of gender and racial
equity discusses: a rubric for deciding 'yes or no', single payer
healthcare, why confining medical practice to the bedside can be an
exercise in futility, sexism and racism in medicine, the wage gap,
workforce vs. leadership demographics, managing overtly racist
patients, and why the culture of medicine is ripe for sexual
harassment.
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We
discuss:
- Esther’s first outward advocacy:
responding to the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle
the
Affordable Care Act [03:44];
- How
you decide whether to say “yes” or “no” when you don’t have time to
do everything that’s asked of you [06:15];
- Why
investing in the development of a single-payer health system would
provide better care upstream so that we can save on our costly
low-value care downstream [11:00];
- What
Esther will always stand up against: inequity
[17:20];
- The
importance of advocating for systems solutions to problems, and how
confining your practice to the hospital is an “exercise in
futility” [19:00];
- Esther’s pre- and post-game routines before and
after night shifts [25:20];
- Lessons Esther tries to impart on her trainees
in the ED [29:00];
- The
importance of meeting patients where they are, whether they’re a
heroin addict, borderline personality, or an a-hole
[32:50];
- Esther’s podcast,
Doctor’s Log, which is a
diary of the experience treating patients during the COVID pandemic
[34:40];
- How
Esther responds when a patient refuses to be treated by her because
of her race [38:18];
- Sexism in medicine and how to get everyone (not
just women) on board as advocates for equality and reversing
disparity [43:55];
- How
implicit bias is a side effect of being human [48:30];
- The
discrepancy of the demographics in the workforce vs. in leadership
positions [58:00];
- Explaining the gender wage gap in medicine
[1:03:00];
- Strategizing solutions to gender pay inequity
[01:10:00];
- Esther’s company, Equity Quotient, whose mission is to “work with standout
health care organizations, employer groups and academic centers to
create a culture of equity, safety, and respect”
[01:11:34];
- The
NEJM article, Time’s Up for Medicine? Only Time Will
Tell, and why medicine
is ill-prepared to make meaningful steps toward ending harassment
[01:17:00];
- Why
change won’t happen if we don’t improve the diversity
representation from the ground floor up to the highest leadership
[01:19:45];
- The
reason Twitter became Esther’s social media medium and how Chelsea
Clinton’s comment on her tweet took her to the next level
[01:22:56];
- Why
patients of surgical attendings who are abusive to staff have worse
outcomes [01:27:00]; and
- Esther’s call to action,
[01:30:42];
- And
more.
****
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