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Q&A
Impact of a diverse medical workforce on patient care
0:54:22
·
5 min
Dr. Green explains how a diverse medical workforce positively impacts patient care and health outcomes in communities.
- Research shows that having even one Black physician in a county improves healthcare for the entire community
- Diversity in the healthcare workforce leads to better patient care through improved listening and understanding
- CUNY School of Medicine students are trained to ask comprehensive questions about patients' backgrounds, faith, and social determinants of health
- Multilingual healthcare providers (85% of CUNY Medicine students speak a language other than English) can better communicate with and understand diverse patient populations
Eric Dinowitz
0:54:22
To see someone in the field that they can look up to and say, you know, this is a profession that I can do, and I'm sure that there are many more people, many more women, many more people of color who are in the field because they had leaders like you who are among the first in your field, to do it.
0:54:37
So I I thank you.
0:54:40
So you spoke very importantly about, you know, representation, you know, what it means to have a diverse workforce.
0:54:47
Do you think that there is any relationship between that representation and what medical care looks like?
0:54:59
Having you you spoke you mentioned one comment about, like, as asking certain questions.
0:55:05
I don't know if that was, like, in a room of doctors with a with a patient, but does it does having a diverse workforce impact the care that communities of color, women, immigrant communities, any of the other underserved communities your school's serving, that the care they are receiving?
Carmen Renée Green
0:55:24
Yeah.
0:55:26
Well, that's a really important question, particularly in these times.
0:55:28
Right?
0:55:29
Yeah.
0:55:29
So I've spent my entire career focusing on diversifying the workforce, as far as helping women and people of color come up the academic race.
0:55:43
I was, you know, I'm pretty blessed.
0:55:48
So my commitment to that is real, as it is to my students in what, you know, you know, there's one particular student in particular who just he's a true introvert, but likes to just come by the office, high dean, and just sit and watch me.
0:56:04
Not certain what he's actually thinking, like, wow, I could do that.
0:56:07
Or but I do hope he's he's saying, I can do that.
0:56:10
Right?
0:56:13
Because this country's gonna need leaders, it's gonna need a lot of healing.
0:56:19
Healing.
0:56:20
The literature is very clear about the role of having a diverse workforce as it relates to educational and health disparities.
0:56:30
There's a recent JAMA article which I can certainly make certain the council has in regards to this, if you have one black physician in a county, not that even that that person's taking care of everyone, but the health care of the whole community goes up, is improved.
0:56:44
So we can't go out and change our phenotypes, right?
0:56:47
What we look like on the outside.
0:56:48
Okay.
0:56:49
That's genetic lottery.
0:56:51
Right?
0:56:52
But we can change how we act, what we believe.
0:56:57
And that is pretty clear that if you are around people who think in a diverse way, that you take better care of people.
0:57:05
You hear differently.
0:57:06
And I think, you know, so I'm really proud.
0:57:12
So I must say that a few days ago, what day was it, 2 days ago, I had to go emergently to see my son who was admitted to a hospital.
0:57:24
And, you know, I sat there watching people come in and out.
0:57:31
And, there's nothing like being a physician undercover, if you know what I mean, and the dean.
0:57:37
And they said, can you have a student medical student come in?
0:57:43
And I said he looks at me and I said I said, we let's not tell them I'm the dean.
0:57:48
Let's not tell them I'm a doctor.
0:57:49
So the student comes in, asks a few questions about family history, how did this happen.
0:58:03
I was really proud of my students on that day.
0:58:06
Why?
0:58:07
That doctor did not that student doctor, who's getting ready to graduate now, didn't ask about who he was, where he comes from.
0:58:15
Right?
0:58:16
What What does he do for a living?
0:58:18
You know, does faith play a role in his in his life?
0:58:22
And it's a medical student, so they got plenty of time in some some of these spaces.
0:58:27
That's the difference.
0:58:28
Right?
0:58:29
Nice person.
0:58:31
Perfectly I'm certain, probably fine gonna be a fine doctor, but not the type of doctors that we want in many ways.
0:58:38
Did they look at his phenotype?
0:58:41
And those type of things are part of the reason why we have these disparities.
0:58:46
You gotta dig a little deeper.
0:58:49
And then what we know is that those people who come from a diversified workforce listen differently.
0:58:55
Those students who speak a language other than English, like I said, 85% of my students speak a language other than English, that you listen differently.
0:59:05
And patients get it if you're trying to hear them.
0:59:09
And they have to we have to be willing to listen.
0:59:12
So that's what I would say.
Eric Dinowitz
0:59:13
Yeah.
0:59:14
I think that's so important.
0:59:15
Whether or not the doctor that's really interesting.
0:59:18
Whether or not the doctor looks like or has the same background as the patient, the fact that they come from a diverse workforce means they listen differently.
0:59:26
I also wanna congratulate you on being the first person ever to testify to use the word phenotype.
0:59:34
And twice, no less.
0:59:36
You know,
Carmen Renée Green
0:59:38
I do have an M.
0:59:38
Deity.
0:59:39
I mean, behind me, great.
0:59:41
So I just have to show that I went to medical school because
Eric Dinowitz
0:59:45
Yeah.
0:59:45
I wasn't sure before.
Carmen Renée Green
0:59:46
I was talented as a teacher.
0:59:48
I I but I had fantastic teachers and thank you so very much for that.
0:59:51
And that's one of the things we actually are working with is to see how we can work with teachers to help push students through the this pathway.
0:59:59
But yeah.
Eric Dinowitz
0:59:59
Yeah.
1:00:00
Well, I I taught phenotype, genotype, but they put they took Punnett squares.
1:00:04
Yeah.
1:00:04
That's yeah.
1:00:05
I didn't Google what it meant.
1:00:07
But they they took Punnett square off the regents years ago, which big mistake.
1:00:11
Yeah.
1:00:11
I wanna I wanna just I wanna turn it over to council member Brewer, for questions.