DeepSummary
The podcast episode discusses medical racism and how it is perpetuated in medical schools. The guests, Zenia and Jamie, who are current medical students, share their experiences as students of color and the challenges they face in organizing against racism within their institutions. They discuss how medical formulas and coefficients that factor in a patient's race, such as the EGFR to determine kidney function and differential lung capacity in spirometry, are still being taught in medical schools despite being rooted in racist pseudoscience.
The guests also delve into the issue of fatphobia in the medical field and its historical ties to racism and white supremacy. Jamie explains how the concept of the "ideal" body and the pathologization of larger bodies, particularly those of Black and Brown people, have their origins in the desire to establish a racial hierarchy and justify slavery and dehumanization.
The episode explores the broader challenges of organizing within medical schools, such as the demands on students' time, the fear of retaliation, and the difficulty in passing on institutional knowledge between classes. The guests emphasize the importance of questioning medical authority, advocating for patients' autonomy, and addressing the structural barriers that prevent people from accessing health care.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Medical racism is perpetuated in medical schools through the continued use of racist medical formulas and coefficients that factor in a patient's race.
- Fatphobia in the medical field has historical ties to racism and the desire to establish a white racial hierarchy.
- Medical students of color face unique challenges, such as being mistaken for others of the same ethnicity and navigating a racialized environment within their institutions.
- Organizing efforts against racism and other issues in medical schools are hindered by time demands, fear of retaliation, and the difficulty in passing on institutional knowledge between classes.
- There is a need to question medical authority, advocate for patient autonomy, and address the structural barriers that prevent people from accessing health care.
- Medical schools often fail to acknowledge the historical context and racist origins of certain medical practices and beliefs.
- The concept of an "ideal" body perpetuated in medicine is rooted in white supremacist beliefs and the desire to pathologize non-white bodies.
- There is a disconnect between the theoretical teachings of patient-centered care and the actual practices of some healthcare providers and preceptors.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I think one of the biggest challenges is that medical school already places so many different demands on one's time. It's the sort of school where I could study, like, actually all of my waking hours and still not know everything that is presented to me every single week.“ by Zenia Moore
- “I also think another challenge with medical school is that there, I feel like an undergrad organizing because even though there's like, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, you're like, all relatively in the same life stage, and, like, classes are mixed, so you'll, like, interact with upperclassmen a lot more. But in medical school, like, unless you actively seek out interclass relationships, it's like, super easy to only talk to people who are in your year.“ by Jamie Yee
- “So like, first of all, I think it's important to give credit to, like, the resources and people I've learned a lot from and have helped me unlearn a lot of internalized fatphobia and healthism, especially since I myself am a person living in the smaller body.“ by Jamie Yee
- “And there's also this thing that happens where, like, administrators and even like, classmates, because our classmates are also perpetrators of these inequalities. Like, at a certain level, they'll refer to our community as like a quote unquote family, where we should assume best intent and do our best to help each other grow, which totally decontextualizes things and invalidates concerns about real marginalization and further exploits students in their labor.“ by Jamie Yee
Entities
Hospital
Person
Book
Organization
Episode Information
Season of the Bitch
Season of the Bitch
9/4/20