Asian American medical students face racism, discrimination: Yale study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, majority of Asian physicians are born, raised and educated in their homes countries and coming here for residency so obviously there are cultural differences. Only 20% are US born and raised Asian-Americans from local medical schools.

That being said, empathy and lack of it is similar in physicians of all races. You may see it more in people you can't relate to.

that's a good point, and I wonder how preconceived notions play into it. Implicit bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s like anything can be called a microaggression.

Yeah, this is not a "study".
1:1 interviews and people's feelings.
Too subjective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah that's true. My daughter told us incidents like these but I am not sure why it's surprising? I, myself, have experienced these things growing up. A lot of Americans are racists. It is what it is. I tell my daughter to just ignore and move on and focus on something productive.

Well, immigrant parents may feel safe in such strategy as they feel thankful for the opportunity to be here and are afraid to ask for equality even after living, working and contributing for all their adult lives but they shouldn't pass this mentality on to their kids born and raised here. Why would they accept second grade treatment by anyone?

What do you suggest? Call out patients, other doctors, administration, some random racist on the street...etc. You can't cure racists by calling them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure why people expect life to be perfect. That they should never encounter someone rude or offensive. Why are they giving so much power away to other people they randomly encounter?

Let racists be racists? Do you think racism doesn't effect people, discrimination and psychological damage can just be shrugged off?

Yes. If a stupid person insults you, you should just ignore it. Why let them control your thoughts and feelings?

I don't see how it's even possible to have the mental toughness to get through medical school and at the same time be so fragile that the "psychological damage" of some idiot being rude will break you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure why people expect life to be perfect. That they should never encounter someone rude or offensive. Why are they giving so much power away to other people they randomly encounter?

Let racists be racists? Do you think racism doesn't effect people, discrimination and psychological damage can just be shrugged off?

Yes. If a stupid person insults you, you should just ignore it. Why let them control your thoughts and feelings?

I don't see how it's even possible to have the mental toughness to get through medical school and at the same time be so fragile that the "psychological damage" of some idiot being rude will break you.

This same poster is mortally offended when someone says Happy Holidays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

invisibility as a racial microaggression, with one student sharing, “It took them the whole first year to be able to tell me apart from the other Asian guy.”

lol cry more.

In point of fact, I prefer Asian doctors and surgeons because they are hard-working, competent, and overcame affirmative action working against them. See, sometimes racism works in your favor!

As an ICU RN I worked side-by-side with medical students and residents for 15+ years in an academic medical center in a setting where we had many critically ill and dying patients. I will say (and I'm sure that this will be deleted in about 5 seconds) that outward empathy and compassion is less prevalent in SOME Asian medical doctors/residents than other races. I have no doubt that this mostly cultural but it impacts how they are viewed by some patients and staff members.

Now watching this get deleted in 3..2..1..

You mean they don’t cry white lady crocodile tears?

What you don’t get is that Asians face discrimination and microaggressions from their first day of kindergarten onwards. Our faces are pretty much trained to remain neutral. Especially in a professional setting. That does not mean there is lack of feeling or empathy. But you wouldn’t get that.

The fact that you’re a nurse, that should have some knowledge of science, and claiming that a particular ethnic group lacks empathy more than other groups is pretty disgusting.
But your bias is expected and not actually surprising.

[Anonymous]

I have no doubt they could experience racism. But how does this qualify as a serious study? 25 students of which 16 are women. How do they isolate for whether the perceived micro aggression is due to race or gender? They got a few people from many different Asian nationalities. We don’t know if they had American accents or strong foreign accents (which can affect how people react to them).

Were they all from the same medical school? If so, where is it? If not, how do you adjust for them being in different places? If one medical student is in a region with many Asian-Americans, maybe they will experience little racism. If another is in a place with few or no Asians, maybe they will experience a lot.

Senior doctors may treat other non-Asian students poorly too - was that checked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

invisibility as a racial microaggression, with one student sharing, “It took them the whole first year to be able to tell me apart from the other Asian guy.”

lol cry more.

In point of fact, I prefer Asian doctors and surgeons because they are hard-working, competent, and overcame affirmative action working against them. See, sometimes racism works in your favor!

As an ICU RN I worked side-by-side with medical students and residents for 15+ years in an academic medical center in a setting where we had many critically ill and dying patients. I will say (and I'm sure that this will be deleted in about 5 seconds) that outward empathy and compassion is less prevalent in SOME Asian medical doctors/residents than other races. I have no doubt that this mostly cultural but it impacts how they are viewed by some patients and staff members.

Now watching this get deleted in 3..2..1..

You mean they don’t cry white lady crocodile tears?

What you don’t get is that Asians face discrimination and microaggressions from their first day of kindergarten onwards. Our faces are pretty much trained to remain neutral. Especially in a professional setting. That does not mean there is lack of feeling or empathy. But you wouldn’t get that.

The fact that you’re a nurse, that should have some knowledge of science, and claiming that a particular ethnic group lacks empathy more than other groups is pretty disgusting.
But your bias is expected and not actually surprising.

The PP you responded to clearly said outward displays of compassion and empathy. You should read more carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are Asians and I tell my kids to brush off racism and be focused on their goals. People of all races have biases. If we as first gen immigrants have thrived in this country, our kids who have gone to good schools with an abundance of resources should have no excuse. Call out the racism but never let it be a hindrance. When admissions are tougher for Asians, I tell my kids they have to work harder, it will benefit them in the long run.

Thank you for being self-aware. My kid is white and attends a high-achieving HS along with many Asians. Though he has tried to join some Asian friend groups, he’s never been truly accepted. Other group members will do things and not invite him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, majority of Asian physicians are born, raised and educated in their homes countries and coming here for residency so obviously there are cultural differences. Only 20% are US born and raised Asian-Americans from local medical schools.

That being said, empathy and lack of it is similar in physicians of all races. You may see it more in people you can't relate to.

My problem is doctors with thick accents. I feel embarrassed asking them to repeat themselves too much so I miss a lot. My Ukrainian doctor only has a slight accent. My child’s pediatric nurse is Ukrainian too but her accent is tough to decipher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are Asians and I tell my kids to brush off racism and be focused on their goals. People of all races have biases. If we as first gen immigrants have thrived in this country, our kids who have gone to good schools with an abundance of resources should have no excuse. Call out the racism but never let it be a hindrance. When admissions are tougher for Asians, I tell my kids they have to work harder, it will benefit them in the long run.

Thank you for being self-aware. My kid is white and attends a high-achieving HS along with many Asians. Though he has tried to join some Asian friend groups, he’s never been truly accepted. Other group members will do things and not invite him.

I'm sorry for your kid. Maybe they don't feel he "gets" them, and they come from different backgrounds. Like, they have immigrant parents and follow their culture, and your white DS would not fit into that.

My kid is half white/half Asian, and his friend group is a mix of white and Asian.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why all Asians are lumped together. Southeast Asians, Indians, East Asians all seem so different to me. The previous poster who talks about outward compassion I am wondering if they are talking about all Asians to be less outwardly compassionate or only from certain regions. I have found doctors from India to be very outwardly compassionate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

invisibility as a racial microaggression, with one student sharing, “It took them the whole first year to be able to tell me apart from the other Asian guy.”

lol cry more.

In point of fact, I prefer Asian doctors and surgeons because they are hard-working, competent, and overcame affirmative action working against them. See, sometimes racism works in your favor!

As an ICU RN I worked side-by-side with medical students and residents for 15+ years in an academic medical center in a setting where we had many critically ill and dying patients. I will say (and I'm sure that this will be deleted in about 5 seconds) that outward empathy and compassion is less prevalent in SOME Asian medical doctors/residents than other races. I have no doubt that this mostly cultural but it impacts how they are viewed by some patients and staff members.

Now watching this get deleted in 3..2..1..

Ok, Karen. Whatever...