Re: Black babies are less likely to die when cared for by black doctors, US study finds
Dear Editor
The situation is different in the UK because the medical workforce has BAME representation well above the population levels; only 55.6% of doctors are white ethnicity compared to 85.6% of the rest of the working population (1). It would be interesting to know if that is protective, both due to easier access of patients to a BAME doctor, but also that the majority of white doctors will have had BAME colleagues through much of their career, even if they are not working in a diverse area.
However the issues in medical education mentioned by Edward J Towning in his response are relevant to medical students across the board, so representation alone may not be enough. This problem is likely to be greater for medical schools based in ethnically homogenous areas, where students are less likely to get enough experiencing seeing enough patients from a range of ethnic backgrounds.
Rapid Response:
Re: Black babies are less likely to die when cared for by black doctors, US study finds
Dear Editor
The situation is different in the UK because the medical workforce has BAME representation well above the population levels; only 55.6% of doctors are white ethnicity compared to 85.6% of the rest of the working population (1). It would be interesting to know if that is protective, both due to easier access of patients to a BAME doctor, but also that the majority of white doctors will have had BAME colleagues through much of their career, even if they are not working in a diverse area.
However the issues in medical education mentioned by Edward J Towning in his response are relevant to medical students across the board, so representation alone may not be enough. This problem is likely to be greater for medical schools based in ethnically homogenous areas, where students are less likely to get enough experiencing seeing enough patients from a range of ethnic backgrounds.
Reference;
1. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-busines... (accessed 09/09/2020)
Competing interests: No competing interests