So we're sitting around in our early morning checkout describing the patients of the night when one of my partners describes an Asian patient as "an oriental".
At this point another partner chimes in that the correct terminology is
"...An Asian American. An oriental is a rug".
When I am describing patients for the medical record I often wonder what are the politically correct words of choice for being
- White
- Black
- Native Americans
- Indian subcontinent
- Middle Eastern
- Asian
- Mexican
- Others?
So, what do you think? What are the politically correct variations and politically incorrect variations to describe these patients? While we're at it, is it even necessary to describe their origins/race in the chart at all?
i think it would be important because of diseases specific to races i.e. sickle cell anemia
ReplyDeleteDoes it really matter? We're all members of the human race. Heck, the Census Bureau lets you check off as many boxes as you like!
ReplyDeleteTrue, certain disorders occur only within certain ethnic/racial populations. Is that person who appears "caucasian" really a caucasian/white? Could that person be a "caucasian hispanic"? Maybe that person isn't "caucasian" at all.
Hospitals/doctors' offices should leave a blank on any forms and let patients fill it out themselves, especially since a lot of people belong to more than one group.
ReplyDeleteMexican is a country; some prefer Latino/Latina to Hispanic, which is narrower.
Oriental is kind of dated.
I often use African American but it can be tricky because I know people with black skin who aren't American. Generally I find I don't need to refer to someone's race unless discussing racism.
Black is prefer. Some blacks get offended with African-American, like me.
ReplyDelete*preferred
ReplyDeleteOriental can refer to anything from the Orient. There's no need to be offended by that term, they're just being picky.
ReplyDeleteI do think it is important to mention racial background because different diseases are more prevalent in the different races.
Race is less important than ethnicity and the two are not interchangable. For example, Ashkanazi Jewish is an ethnicity more than a race and this ancestry has a huge impact on risk of many inheirited diseases. There are many hematological disorders (alpha -thal for example) where ethnicity gives a clue to severity and genetics of the disease. This could have a great bearing on cost. For example, Factor V Leiden mutation is almost exclusively found in people of Northern European descent (VERY rare in those of African or Mediteranean descent) and should only really be ordered in those of Northern European descent. So, ethnicity is important and should be recorded in the chart.
ReplyDeleteI'm Filipino. I don't really mind being called "Asian" since at times race is medically relevant. "mexican" isn't a race it's a country. "hispanic" refers to a culture not a race, thats what I always thought. We're all varying shades of brown or beige.
ReplyDeleteOriental is a restaurant...but hey, I'm not offended...