Final Post

My thoughts from the beginning of the year, after the initial readings, hasn't wavered much. I feel like I keep much of the same opinion when I wrote, "Talking about race and how people see it has (hopefully) made us aware of how we see people individually." The awareness that we have towards our thoughts can help train us further to keep stereotypes from entering our "Process of elimination" (if you will). We will be able to observe people based on injuries they have or something about them that's out of the ordinary, and stop judging them. I continued, "We can pinpoint and cover up our biases so we can read with a sort of neutrality and see every side of a story and approach it as needed." When working with patients I believe a doctor should see you as both a person and a machine. Meaning, They should know how your body works and all it's functions and be able to identify problems that could appear and be affecting a patient. They should also care about the person and their comfort, because we are not fully machines, a human life is fragile and should be treated as such. So, in a time of need I can understand if a doctor looks past trivial things like asking how many children a patient has, or if they're married or not. With racism plaguing the world we live in, it should be at the back of every professional's mind and not just doctors.

I expected to learn about racism, medicine and how society plays a role in those two subjects. I feel like I've been taught more than that, I've learned a valuable lesson to see people as just that, people. Sure, i can notice the color of their hair, skin, eyes, etc. but I can focus on what matters more, who they are as a person, are they nice? Do they care about what they should be caring about? (As a doctor might think): Will they listen to me, based off of their body language and not their social background? Black Man in a White Coat was a great reading that helped shape these questions, the doctor observed the environment that some people had to live in: No local doctor, no money to get to the local pharmacy, no money to afford medicine at the local pharmacy. And he succeeded in making those environmental attributes click into the problem of the locals not "taking care of themselves". Of course he also had stereotypes and views on southern white people, but with each patient that fit that description he overcame internal boundaries and saw himself as a doctor and not "a black man in a white coat".

I've personally reached the conclusion that children should be raised with neutral views on people and be taught to work through situations knowing all the details. My questions have no immediate answers and maybe never will. When are we going to begin seeing people as they are and not who they're thought to be? When is society going to start raising kids with the ability to think neutrally? Why did the placing of stereotypes have to take place? Why was it necessary to view and treat people as unequal? Overall, I thought this was a great class whether a student is studying medicine or not, it should be offered every other semester or as a First Year Seminar.