Racism is alive and sick in New Zealand’s medical system. Doctors, medical students, patients and whānau suffer, says a newly-released research paper.
Grim findings
Researchers at the universities of Auckland and Otago have found that almost all – 90 percent – of Māori doctors and medical students say they have experienced or witnessed racism in their education or work environments.
Of the 205 Māori medical students and 200 Māori physicians they surveyed, discrimination, bullying and harassment were common to all.
The research was published last week in JAMA Network Open, a monthly medical journal of the American Medical Association.
Institutional racism
Paediatrician Owen Sinclair (Te Rarawa) works at Waitakere Hospital. The findings are disheartening, he says.
“When you get into the system you see just how destructive it is to Māori. It’s ambivalent to the needs of Māori.
“They come into this Pākehā system that’s very rigid… and no one says ‘Kia Ora’.
“Māori have all these cultural needs and it’s just not recognised as an issue.”
Researchers also heard from many respondents that they had seen Māori patients and their whānau treated badly in clinical settings.
“There’s not a lot of people running around sort of racially abusing Māori, but there’s lots of decisions you can see being made that are made differently depending on whether someone’s a Māori or Pākehā, and you see that a lot” Sinclair said.
“You see them getting sent home earlier, you see them not being able to get into ED. I think often people don’t know they’re doing it.”
The study found some Māori doctors had even considered leaving or had taken a break from medicine because of their experiences.
Change needed
Urgent, systemic changes are needed, the researchers say.
This is critical to ensure medicine is safe for Indigenous medical students, physicians and communities.
“I’d like people to do something. There’s been a lot of talking about addressing inequalities but there’s actually very little that gets done to actually change it” Sinclair said.
“Māori working inside the system find it really difficult… it’s very threatening sometimes.”
Minister of Health’s view
The Minister of Health Shane Reti says he did not experience racism during his 17 years as a GP.
“I firmly believe all interpersonal relationships need to start from a position of respect” he says.
“As a self-reported study this is useful in terms of gaining understanding of others’ experiences within the system and of work to do in this area.”
He now wants to see cultural understanding and competency within medicine established and maintained.
Respect is paramount, he emphasises.
“Levers such as the New Zealand Health Charter (Te Mauro o Rongo), the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, and individual colleges standing by their policies and practice will help reinforce this.”
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