How We Talk About Race and the Language of Oppression

We begin by discussing the JAMA tweet from 2021, reading “No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?”. Newsome relates this to arguments she hears often from the tech industry stating that algorithms and computers cannot be racist. She adds that humans created the programs and wrote the medical journals, which means that biases will be present, and that neither computers nor physicians are entirely objective, and both can indeed be racist.

Next, the three discuss the power of language, and the critical relationship of language and the biases we hold. Elaine Martin speaks to her experience as a nurse in San Francisco, and what she notices about the language that is used when interacting with patients. She reflects on how medical providers' choice of language can be dismissive or hurtful to patients. She shares experiences from her family members interactions with medical providers, and how she has learned to communicate with patients differently based on these experiences. They discuss a New York Times article by Rachel Gross about the linguistic origins of the pudendal nerve and its ties to patients with pudendal neuralgia who feel shame due to their condition.

Finally, our guests give advice to current medical trainees. They discuss how we can examine our current structures and systems and change them where we identify problems. They express their hope that future generations of medical providers will take the time to examine their biases and dismantle harmful and dismissive treatment of marginalized groups.