Instead of making diversity, equity, or inclusion the goal, which incentivizes politicization and falsehoods, make understanding of root causes the goal, which leads to straight talk about the health problems facing certain groups.
If proponents of DEI were honest, they would admit that their ideology should include one more enforced pillar: political correctness, with its discriminatory effects on employees.
Bill Andersen, MD, is an orthopedist and a brave outspoken advocate against DEI policies at UNC’s Healthcare system and elsewhere. He is already seeing DEI ideology hurt his patient practice, with UNC forcing “racial equity training’ for him, stifling inter-doctor communication and sometimes even relationships with his patients. “With sensitivity training for all and quick dismissal of anyone who offends another because of the other person’s ‘lived experience,’ DEI personnel dictate what everyone can say and do at work,” he says. “This is certainly destructive to the doctor-patient and doctor-employee relationships; it used to be a non-issue to discuss people’s culture, family history, etc, and it may have helped the physician to understand the patient’s and employee’s needs and concerns better. Now we’re starting down the road of not assuming gender based on name, physical characteristics, or how people dress?” Instead, hospitals and medical schools should foster a climate where doctors and doctors-in-training feel free to speak and ideate, where they don’t feel like they are checking boxes just to get to the next patient. In fewer words: the more our healthcare system begins to resemble the current state of our education system, with its speech codes and intellectual monocultures, the worse off everyone will be.
Instead, allow doctors to be frank with patients about their specific needs and the evidence-based treatment they would recommend to them. For example, doctors should be allowed to cut the bull about a patient’s gender. If a person is born a girl, they have specific girl-related biological problems; thinking that they are a boy should play no role in their treatment and diagnosis. Furthermore, doctors should not be censured for asking patients about their individual and family circumstances, their behaviors, or other parts of their history, like Dr. Andersen was. Although intercultural communication can sometimes be an issue due to language barriers, only 25 percent of Black Americans see it as a major issue in healthcare for them.
People appreciate doctors who are straight to the point. Let’s build a medical climate that emphasizes straight talk.
