Social Responsibility in the Medical Field

Even while living in the 21st century, some patients have preferences for the medical provider that will be treating them, typically falling somewhere around straight, white, and same-gender doctors. Since patients are paying for their appointments, medical providers can rarely intervene or deny their wishes. And so the question becomes, should patients be allowed to go shopping around for a “fit” doctor based on social constructions? In a country that stands for freedom, what should be given more importance: the freedom for a patient to handpick who will treat them or the equality that a doctor deserves as a member of society?

Because of the obvious bias in the above question, one will be tempted to say that bigotry is unacceptable anywhere. There have been clear-cut instances in which patients deny medical practitioners due to bigotry. For instance, in Flint, Michigan, a man with a swastika tattoo requested that he did not want a black nurse attending his newborn (NYtimes). This Eurocentric perspective has been engraved into many people, which becomes difficult to denounce when individuals argue that their preferred accommodations be met because they are paying for them after all.

However, the question asked previously about whether a patient’s biased requests or a doctor’s deserved respect should be given more importance becomes a harder one when considering how insecure a patient may feel with a particular doctor. If a woman was a survivor of sexual assault, it is logical for her to request a female gynecologist (Appiah). But does that mean, a female patient who hasn’t had the same background, shouldn’t feel insecure about being treated by a male doctor or even the other way around?

Unfortunately, though, this partiality might be deteriorating to medical practitioners' self-esteem over time who take the oath to not deny any of their patients based on their gender, sexuality, race, or religion (Appiah). With unfounded reasons, it seems unfair to deny a doctor so quickly unless there are religious reasons or underlying fears. With that in mind, there are certain specialties like gynecology, cardiology, and urology that have been “disproportionately heavy on one gender,” according to one study and it is quite reasonable for it to be this way (“How Does Gender Factor In When Patients Choose Doctors?”). There have been countless case studies with doctors charged for sexual assault within their clinics. A recent example in September 2020, a former New York gynecologist was charged for “sexually abusing dozens of patients, including the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang” (Neumeister). In such circumstances, it is understandable why some patients may feel insecure with opposite gender doctors, but this is not to say that this is always the case.

Unlike gender preferences, choosing healthcare professionals based on race is a more sensitive topic. If a white woman requests that the black nurse should not attend her child, this is sheer bigotry. However, if a black woman were to request a black nurse instead to treat her child, would it be ethically rational? It turns out that oftentimes when the request is made by a patient from a minority group, the scenario is interpreted differently (Kim). This is due to the sense of comfort that is felt with a same-race doctor as compared to the unjustifiable feelings of ethnic superiority displayed by the white woman in the above scenario.

The list of when patient requests are ethical versus when they are downright discriminatory attitudes is an endless one. There are some instances where it is hard to determine where the line falls and only in an “ideal world” is it plausible for hospitals “to standardize which patient requests are appropriate” (Kim). In the meantime, healthcare professionals should try to maximize patient-care and push the common people to have these types of conversations.

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Works Cited

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “Should Patients Be Allowed to Choose - or Refuse - Doctors by Race or

Gender?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Aug. 2019,

www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/magazine/should-patients-be-allowed-to-choose-or-refuse-

doctors-by-race-or-gender.html.

“How Does Gender Factor In When Patients Choose Doctors?” The Script, 20 May 2019,

thescript.zocdoc.com/do-women-prefer-female-doctors-it-depends/.

Kim, Melina. Patients Choosing Healthcare Provider Based on Race: Ethical Issues and

Considerations. 2020, journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/bioethics/article/view/5903.

Larry, Neumeister, and Mustian Jim. “NY Doctor Charged in Serial Sexual Assaults on Patients.”

ABC News, ABC News Network, 2020, abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ny-doctor-charged-serial-

sexual-assaults-patients-72902089.