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Chapter 9 - Physician/Patient Discordance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2023

Mark Curato
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
Kaushal Shah
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
Christopher Reisig
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
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Summary

The Emergency Department (ED) is a microcosm of its greater surrounding community. Urban EDs in particular have a broad variety of people – both physicians and patients – who hail from various backgrounds, races, and ethnicities, each with unique primary languages and cultures. Urban metropolitans are the most diverse regions compared to more rural parts of a given country. Based on current demographic data and our own collective experiences in urban EDs internationally, ED physicians seldom have an opportunity to reflect on race, language, and culture in the populations that we serve. These differences, or the discordance between clinician and patient, can become problematic for emergency physicians.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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