Why would the ER ask about your ancestry?

[Anonymous]

Decline to answer

[Anonymous]

I was recently at a specialist, and he asked me my ancestry. I thought it might be pertinent to my condition, so I said my sister did a 23 and Me test and it came in overwhelming Irish. He said, "Right, so Caucasian." which he typed into the form.

Ancestry seems to be the new word for race or ethnicity. That said, DH is Arab and that ethnicity is very pertinent to a medical condition one of my kids has. It was overlooked as a possibility because the doctor had no reason to suspect Arab background based on appearance until I later pointed it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

Certain diseases run in certain ethnicities. It's just more inclusive to ask rather than assume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recently at a specialist, and he asked me my ancestry. I thought it might be pertinent to my condition, so I said my sister did a 23 and Me test and it came in overwhelming Irish. He said, "Right, so Caucasian." which he typed into the form.

Ancestry seems to be the new word for race or ethnicity. That said, DH is Arab and that ethnicity is very pertinent to a medical condition one of my kids has. It was overlooked as a possibility because the doctor had no reason to suspect Arab background based on appearance until I later pointed it out.

Geographical ancestry is not the same as race though medical education confuses these things.

[Anonymous]

My kids are half middle eastern and “cousin marriage” is more common among that ethnic groups. Lots of diseases can be caused by intermarriage among closely related individuals. so I assume if they are using some sort of software to diagnose there are probably diagnoses you might consider for my kids that you might not consider for the general population. I think it’s probably AI that is at the root of the question and not some tin foil hat conspiracy theory “la migra”
Issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

Why on Earth would you be troubled by this? That's a good doctor doing their job. There are a lot of genetic predicators for all sorts of conditions and diseases. The more information there is, the better for making a useful diagnoses and treatment plan. It's you who is throwing race and ethnicity into everything and forcing doctors to be defensive about how they want to help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recently at a specialist, and he asked me my ancestry. I thought it might be pertinent to my condition, so I said my sister did a 23 and Me test and it came in overwhelming Irish. He said, "Right, so Caucasian." which he typed into the form.

Ancestry seems to be the new word for race or ethnicity. That said, DH is Arab and that ethnicity is very pertinent to a medical condition one of my kids has. It was overlooked as a possibility because the doctor had no reason to suspect Arab background based on appearance until I later pointed it out.

True. Diseases like G6PD deficiency and beta thalassemia are more common in people of middle eastern or Mediterranean heritage. Or Tay Sachs in people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Or Sickle cell in black people. ETC…

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of posters are missing the key points:

1. The ER registrar/first person you talk to is now asking:

Where were you born? And what is your ancestry?

2. They are asking everyone.

3. They did not ask for race.

4. Op is obviously white/caucasian of the British WASP variety given their appearance as well as their name.

5. These are brand new questions that weren’t asked when the op was in the same ER last month.

6. The medical issue was limited to a broken bone requiring an X-ray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

What exactly is an “American” name?

Are you embarrassed to share your heritage?

One of my family members was mis-diagnosed because the clinicians did not understand that persons of color have different results to certain diagnostic tests.

Genetic background, like sex, absolutely matters in many medical contexts.

The first question was where were you born. That has absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity. Quite frankly, neither does ancestry.

They didn’t ask if we were Caucasian…because that was abundantly apparent.

It’s new, and it’s inappropriate.

Where you were born could impact your health, like if your family is from a country known to have a lot of TB cases. You could've been exposed as a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

What exactly is an “American” name?

Are you embarrassed to share your heritage?

One of my family members was mis-diagnosed because the clinicians did not understand that persons of color have different results to certain diagnostic tests.

Genetic background, like sex, absolutely matters in many medical contexts.

The first question was where were you born. That has absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity. Quite frankly, neither does ancestry.

They didn’t ask if we were Caucasian…because that was abundantly apparent.

It’s new, and it’s inappropriate.

Where you were born could impact your health, like if your family is from a country known to have a lot of TB cases. You could've been exposed as a child.

It’s a brand new question.

And it would be very surprising for Jennifer Smith or John Jones to have been born in a country where TB is a concern.

Regardless, when all you need is an X-ray for a suspected broken bone, there’s no need to know where I was born.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked about my kid’s ancestry after they inquired about where he was born.

Kid was born in the US (so was I snd so was my husband).

All of us have very American names, do not speak with an accent, and do not appear to be anything other than American.

I know why your obgyn asks about ethnicity, but I have no idea why they would specifically inquire about ethnicity at the ER when you are there for a sports injury requiring an X-ray.

Any thoughts?

What exactly is an “American” name?

Are you embarrassed to share your heritage?

One of my family members was mis-diagnosed because the clinicians did not understand that persons of color have different results to certain diagnostic tests.

Genetic background, like sex, absolutely matters in many medical contexts.

The first question was where were you born. That has absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity. Quite frankly, neither does ancestry.

They didn’t ask if we were Caucasian…because that was abundantly apparent.

It’s new, and it’s inappropriate.

Where you were born could impact your health, like if your family is from a country known to have a lot of TB cases. You could've been exposed as a child.

It’s a brand new question.

And it would be very surprising for Jennifer Smith or John Jones to have been born in a country where TB is a concern.

Regardless, when all you need is an X-ray for a suspected broken bone, there’s no need to know where I was born.

They should not assume anything, and also not profile.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it is part of a TB screen? TB is rampant now - it is one reason you are seeing more ERs require masking upon arrival.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are white, so sickle cell isn’t relevant.

We are here for a very obvious sports injury requiring a simple X-ray, so ancestry is irrelevant.

While I’ve seen questions regarding ethnicity on medical forms at a doctor’s office, those questions are more directly tied to race and language.

They asked where my kid was born and what our ancestry is. We have never been asked these questions before in this ER.

And yes, it’s a medstar ER.

Are is question in writing ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are white, so sickle cell isn’t relevant.

We are here for a very obvious sports injury requiring a simple X-ray, so ancestry is irrelevant.

While I’ve seen questions regarding ethnicity on medical forms at a doctor’s office, those questions are more directly tied to race and language.

They asked where my kid was born and what our ancestry is. We have never been asked these questions before in this ER.

And yes, it’s a medstar ER.

Are is question in writing ?

No, the questions were not in writing. The first person who speaks with people checking in at the er asks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are white, so sickle cell isn’t relevant.

We are here for a very obvious sports injury requiring a simple X-ray, so ancestry is irrelevant.

While I’ve seen questions regarding ethnicity on medical forms at a doctor’s office, those questions are more directly tied to race and language.

They asked where my kid was born and what our ancestry is. We have never been asked these questions before in this ER.

And yes, it’s a medstar ER.

Are is question in writing ?

No, the questions were not in writing. The first person who speaks with people checking in at the er asks.

This is MAGA nonsense. ICE is sitting in ER entries waiting for people they can fill their quotas with in some places.

You should complain to the hospital—loudly. Ask for an explanation of why this question is being asked, if not for this purpose.