Alumni News

Alumna Janice Sabin's MSW '01, PhD '06, study finds that doctors often register unconscious bias against blacks

The gap between physicians' conscious attitudes and their implicit preferences could help explain why black patients receive worse care, said study lead author Janice A. Sabin, PhD.

"People's intentions are very good, but somehow there consistently are disparities in how people are treated based on race and ethnicity," said Sabin, acting assistant professor at the University of Washington's Dept. of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics. "Physicians may be like others and hold unconscious associations, and under certain conditions, such as a heavy workload, these unconscious associations may guide decisions in a way that's hidden, in a way that the person's not even aware."

Read the full article here: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/09/28/prsa0928.htm

Physicians’ Implicit and Explicit Attitudes About Race by MD Race, Ethnicity, and Gender (PDF)