Ask:
Cultural considerations
It seems that modern medicine is too often boiled down to treating conditions just as they appear in the textbook. That is to say, for various reasons, doctors seem to be treating diseases more than they are treating people. I recently finished writing an anthropology paper comparing medical practices and beliefs held by different cultures in which it became clear that who one is is integral both to how one views his illness and what he believes is the proper response to it. It seems to me that whether one is from one culture or another is just as important as if one has one diagnosis or another in implementing treatment. While working in the Emergency Room this past summer I saw a wide array of people who were speaking different languages and were coming from different backgrounds, and I found that issues of cultural differences were rarely considered or discussed. I'd be interested to hear experiences you've had in putting practicing medicine in a cultural context. On the one hand, I understand the desire to be drawn to the rational, objective nature of science, in that if disease presents with identical mechanisms, then there is a best way to treat it, and that way should be employed in all cases to all people. (That would be equality, right? The best for everyone regardless of their cultural identity.) But on the other hand, if one's culture influences the nature of how one feels and responds to illnes, then utilizing a simple flow chart of if...then statements seems at best a bit simplistic and at worst completely missing the point. Have you been in situations where what you believed was best for a patient conflicted with his cultural beliefs? What challenges have you faced in communicating with others when even the most objective facts must be intrepretated in a cultural context? How do you know what is true and scientific when people hold different interpretations of these facts? How then do you know what is the right thing to do for your patients?
Answer:
Cultural considerations
You pose some difficult and important questions - in the Emergency Room, there is usually not enough time to consider all these issues - the staff just has to deal with the medical emergencies in an effective and timely fashion. Often in such conditions, the cultural and individual needs are not fulfilled. In day-to-day practice however these are important points and pose a real challenge for medical personnel.