American Muslim physicians feel the effects of charged rhetoric

By Matt Kuhrt

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Benardino, and amid the amped-up domestic policy rhetoric of a presidential primary, instances of and sensitivity to bias against Muslim Americans have reached something of a fever pitch. A new study examining workplace religious discrimination among practicing physicians shows that even prior to these events, the situation was bad enough to warrant attention, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The data underpinning the recent survey results published in AJOB Empirical Bioethics were collected between 2013 and 2014, and indicated that 24 percent of American Muslim clinicians had experienced religious discrimination "frequently" during their careers.

This increased animosity has some doctors worried that their colleagues might end up leaving the profession, further exacerbating the existing shortage of doctors. The level of anti-Muslim sentiment among colleagues in the medical community has also come as a surprise to some doctors, according to the article.

Aasim Padela, M.D., an emergency medicine doctor at the University of Chicago, told the Post he worries that this greater scrutiny from patients and colleagues alike could eventually end up "depriving patients of culturally sensitive care."

Patients respond better to doctors whom they trust, which has driven calls for greater cultural competency at the practice level, as FiercePracticeManagement has previously reported. In the current climate, this dynamic gets flipped on its head. Per the survey, almost 10 percent of respondents reported patients had refused care due to their physician's religious affiliation.

While there's relatively little doctors can do to reach out to patients inclined to dismiss them due to their religious practices, the study's authors don't mince words with regard to the actions of practitioners themselves, describing such discrimination as "unreasonable and unethical," and pointing out that when directed against patients it "violates the respect for persons at the heart of bioethics."

To learn more:
- read the AJOB Empirical Bioethics article
- read the article in the Washington Post