Unless I have family/friends' recommendations, I prefer for myself and my family to see a medical professional who is Caucasian (and usually male, but less so for more recent graduates), for the following reasons.
I do not know if this is still termed "affirmative action" or not, but being a fairly recent graduate from a dental school, I know for a fact that the non-white students at our school had significantly lower admission scores and grades in school than their Caucasian counterparts, with a few exceptions. The females got into dental school with lower scores as well, but most dental schools (as well as medical schools) are admitting an even amount of (or more) females lately, so the gender discrimination should cease to be an issue.
The African American students actually banded together to cheat on tests. One of them was reported for cheating on two separate occasions by our classmates, and no actions were taken. So if I need a surgery, diagnosis, or treatment, and do not have any recommendations from people I know, I am fairly certain that a Caucasian, male doctor will have had high test scores to get into med school, and if he specialized, will have been chosen for that residency primarily based on merit and not skin color.
I do not think that an African American cannot be top of his/her class and a much better surgeon than all of his/her classmates, but if I don't have any references from people who would actually know his/her skill level, I think that the safe bet is always the white male.
So am I being a racist asshole by including race in my selection of someone who could potentially save (or not save) my or my family member's life?
Disclaimer: I have seen multiple doctors of various ethnicity without issues or doubts of their abilities due to them being highly recommended as the best in their fields by colleagues. Exceptions do exist, but if I am going in blind, I have to side with statistics.
I do not know if this is still termed "affirmative action" or not, but being a fairly recent graduate from a dental school, I know for a fact that the non-white students at our school had significantly lower admission scores and grades in school than their Caucasian counterparts, with a few exceptions. The females got into dental school with lower scores as well, but most dental schools (as well as medical schools) are admitting an even amount of (or more) females lately, so the gender discrimination should cease to be an issue.
The African American students actually banded together to cheat on tests. One of them was reported for cheating on two separate occasions by our classmates, and no actions were taken. So if I need a surgery, diagnosis, or treatment, and do not have any recommendations from people I know, I am fairly certain that a Caucasian, male doctor will have had high test scores to get into med school, and if he specialized, will have been chosen for that residency primarily based on merit and not skin color.
I do not think that an African American cannot be top of his/her class and a much better surgeon than all of his/her classmates, but if I don't have any references from people who would actually know his/her skill level, I think that the safe bet is always the white male.
So am I being a racist asshole by including race in my selection of someone who could potentially save (or not save) my or my family member's life?
Disclaimer: I have seen multiple doctors of various ethnicity without issues or doubts of their abilities due to them being highly recommended as the best in their fields by colleagues. Exceptions do exist, but if I am going in blind, I have to side with statistics.