Medical ethics state that everyone be treated equally, but the pressures of the free market and individual prejudices often bend that ethic. [gdlr_quote align=”right” ]The medical students and physicians in training quickly noted the majority of patients are white and wealthy and nicknamed it the “Center for Caucasians and Donors”[/gdlr_quote] Part of the problem is […]
Neighborhood Class Divisions and Hope for the Future
On Halloween in my neighborhood, kids come around dressed as princesses, super heroes and ghosts – nothing that would be offensive based on class, race or religion. Why not? What is different about my neighborhood is that it is a mixture of everyone. Black, white, poor, wealthy, conservative, liberal and pretty much all the religions […]
Psychiatry and the Imposition of Upper Middle Class Values
Psychiatrists do not have objective tests to confirm their diagnoses. They are often imposing Upper Middle Class values on their patients and then calling it “scientific” diagnosis. The National Institutes of Health in May of 2013 declared the methods of American Psychiatry as “lacking in validity” and that “patients deserve better”. Their key criticism was they have […]
Memorial Day: It’s the Least Wealthy Who Serve and Suffer the Most in War
“People like us don’t have children in the military”. I come in contact with a lot of military families. What is notable is the majority of people in the military don’t come from the upper middle class or wealthy communities. And the ones who have seen combat are not mindlessly gung-ho. If you have lost […]
Crossing the Gap in 5 Minutes
How can a physician easily work with the poor and earn their respect, trust, and affection? The key is feeling genuine respect. I have worked with urban poor, working class, and underserved rural patients now for 30 years. What jumps out at me is how everyone incorporates their place in the US class system and then acts […]