On Wednesday, June 3, Mr. James Page, vice president and chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine, gave an interactive discussion and presentation in order to spread awareness of unconscious bias and the potential negative impact it may have when interacting with colleagues and patients.
Mr. Page gave examples of how different people may interpret scenarios in different ways based on their cultural, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and stressed the importance of understanding an entire situation before drawing conclusions in order to avoid drawing the wrong ones. Even a simple sentence can take on different meaning based on which words are emphasized and the implications can be interpreted differently based on how it is heard.
As a result when it comes to patient care, it is extremely important to consider the patient and his or her family’s cultural, religious and ethnic background and to attempt to understand the full picture before putting a treatment plan in place. It is also important to recognize how our own background and experiences as providers and staff contribute to these interactions. If patients have concerns about their treatment due to their religious or cultural backgrounds, providers can consult the Ethic Committee.
The implicit bias interactive demonstration and discussion proved to be another eye-opening session of the Journeys in Medicine: Exploring the Roles Race and Community Play in Shaping the DOM conversation. Please join us for the next session on Tuesday, June 23 from noon to 1 p.m. in Hurd Hall where speakers Rev. Charles A. Goods of Christian Temple Baptist Church, Denise Jones, research program coordinator at Bayview, Rev. Calvin Keene, pastor at Memorial Baptist Church and Leon Purnell, executive director of the Men and Families Center will participate in a community focus panel discussion moderated by Dr. Sherita Golden, professor and executive vice-chair of the Department of Medicine. We are grateful to Dr. Diane Becker, professor in General Internal Medicine for organizing this session.
To RSVP, click here: https://jhmi.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9MOiMHJskBSiRdH
For community volunteer opportunities, visit: https://medicine-matters.blogs.hopkinsmedicine.org/2015/06/community-volunteer-opportunities/
