Medical School Addresses Disparities in Pain Treatment
Professors at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine are trying to get their third-year students to think differently about pain management through role-playing exercises in response to studies that have found racial disparities in care, the Sacramento Bee reports.
According to UC-Los Angeles studies, white patients with broken arms or legs, on average, receive pain medication more often than Latinos or blacks with the same injuries.
The Bee reports that UC-Davis faculty want to redress "the influence of the 'medical culture' on attitudes about patients" by "allowing students to explore their role in perpetuating those attitudes" (Griffith, Sacramento Bee, 3/12).