Episode 3.02: POC and Provider Relationships in Emergency Care

We know that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected people of color for various factors including wealth gap, environmental racism, underlying health disparities, and more. What are the ways in which this manifests in the emergency room, and what does it look like from a healthcare perspective in terms of the relationship between patients and providers?

In this episode, we hear from two NYC Emergency medicine physicians: Dr. Gaurav Bhargava and Dr. Debashree S. about how race plays a factor in the patient/provider relationship during COVID-19, as well as more generally. They talk about how their responsibilities in regards to end of life care have shifted with patients and their families during the pandemic. We also discuss cultural barriers to treatment, why there is mistrust in the medical community among communities of color, and ways to address implicit biases in medicine.

For further questions and comments, Gaurav can be reached via email at falconsfan3@gmail.com and Debashree at ds2658@columbia.edu

Notable time stamps:

• 49:45: The statistic that Gaurav quotes refers to Black males matriculated in medical school in the U.S. only - not all Black graduates - which is approximately 500 per year. According to the AAMC, there were 1,238 Black graduates in 2019, which comprises only 6.2% of all graduates.

• 1:57: a special performance sung by Tanushree's cat Pippin.