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Essay On Implicit Bias

Decent Essays

Implicit biases are “‘habits of mind,’ learned over time through repeated personal experiences and cultural socialization, which can be activated unintentionally, often outside of one’s own awareness, and are difficult to control” (Burgess, Beach & Saha, 2017, p. 372). Implicit bias is seen in the medical field partly because of the time pressure of medical visits, and the reliance on stereotypes in situations of high stress. It is difficult to study implicit bias because of social desirability. No doctor wants to admit that they are biased and, as a result, they are going to do their best to demonstrate the socially desirable response of being non-biased. However, research shows that bias and prejudice from health care providers toward patients exists, and leads to poorer care related to the assessment of cardiovascular risk and whether or not a patient is referred for additional treatment (Stepanikova, I., 2012). Even health care providers from one of the best health care organizations in the world, Mayo Clinic, struggle with …show more content…

When physicians are under time pressure they rely on stereotypes and biases in order to be more efficient. This study assessed time pressure and implicit bias in 81 primary care physicians and general internists. Physicians were primed with a sequence of words, either related to race or neutral words for the control group. Then, the physicians were asked to read a vignette about a patient with chest pain and give their diagnosis. Some physicians were given three minutes to respond, and others had only half that time. Results showed that physicians who had less time to diagnose gave a less serious diagnosis to Black and Hispanic patients and were less likely to refer a Black patient to a specialist. The conclusion is that when physicians are under stress they may be more influenced by implicit biases to inform their

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