This year, Medscape surveyed more than 2,300 physicians about how they prioritize various social issues. About half ranked climate change among their top five issues. Physicians are slightly less likely to prioritize domestic violence or immigration and refugee policy, and about 40% prioritize reproductive rights in the United States.
Physicians’ Perspectives on Today’s Divisive Social Issues Survey responses and comments left in the 2022 report provide insight into physicians’ attitudes and thinking on these four social challenges.
The relationship between climate change and medicine
Medscape’s report found that 61% of physicians say they are “very concerned” or “concerned” about climate change, and about 7 in 10 say climate change is a top global priority. I agreed that it should be. “Climate change is the most pressing issue of this century,” the psychiatrist respondents wrote.
What about the direct impact on patient health? One internist says rising temperatures will cause “pathogens to spread and infect disadvantaged populations who lack access to health and have weakened immune systems.” I was worried that this might be the case. A family medicine doctor predicted, “There will be more weather disasters, more asthma, more hormonal changes, and more obesity.”
However, the doctors’ views covered a wide range of politically and emotionally charged issues. Expressions such as “exaggeration,” “hysteria,” “hoax,” and “farce” were used. “Climate change is a natural phenomenon that is under God’s jurisdiction,” the emergency medicine doctor said.
And there were some middle-of-the-road ideas as well. “Exaggerated, but quite realistic,” wrote a pediatrician respondent. One ophthalmologist added: “This situation has been going on for many years. We must work to reduce the anthropogenic conditions that contribute to climate change, but it must be done in a smart way.” Ta.
Domestic Violence: What Doctors Can Do
About 7 in 10 doctors surveyed by Medscape said they don’t think the United States is adequately addressing domestic violence. “It is under-recognized and ignored,” the psychiatrist respondent argued. The problem is “pervasive, unacceptable, tucked away in the closet, and normalized with shame,” the emergency medicine physician wrote.
Many respondents noted that doctors have a duty to report abuse or suspected injuries to patients. Some shared anecdotes about how they reported actions they took when they had doubts. “I told patients who may be in a dangerous situation that I am a safe person and I am providing them with a safe space,” the radiologist added. One internist said, “Recently, we have started asking all patients about their safety at home when triaging them.”
Other doctors lamented the lack of proper education on detecting and managing domestic violence and abuse. “Domestic violence is often not recognized by health care providers,” said a psychiatrist respondent.
Expansion of legal immigration
Medscape’s report found that 34% of physicians feel that U.S. immigration and refugee policies need to be made stricter, while 28% say they are too restrictive and about a fifth say they are appropriate. I replied that I was thinking about it.
“As an immigrant myself, I can tell you this system is flawed and needs a complete overhaul, and it will take a bipartisan effort,” the endocrinologist respondent wrote.
Many respondents argued that it is important to simplify the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship to reduce the number of people who feel forced to enter the country illegally. “As a country that relies heavily on immigrants to sustain its health care system, we are acting like fools in refusing safe harbor,” the nephrologist declared.
The neurologist agreed. “Legal immigration needs to be encouraged. To retain talent in the medical and technical sectors, it should be easy to exchange visitor and student visas for immigrant visas, so that the medical sector can The labor shortage will be alleviated.”
Reproductive rights: there are no easy answers
Medscape’s investigation was conducted before the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal in June. Roe v. Wade. The report found that 71% of doctors said they were very or somewhat concerned about women’s reproductive rights, but their views have since become more mixed. “There is significant disagreement among physicians on this issue,” wrote one oncologist respondent.
Meanwhile, 3% of doctors thought abortion should never be allowed. “A human baby in the womb is an independent human being with a right to life,” the pathologist said. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of doctors believed abortion should be available under all circumstances, regardless of the gestational age or reason. “I’m just here to support the woman and make her decision a reality,” the internist said.
Obstetrics and gynecology respondents said that while abortions should only be allowed in “extenuating circumstances” after “fetal viability” has been established, they were “very concerned” about attacks on abortion rights. “There is,” he said. “Some of us are old enough to remember the women who came to the ER in extreme conditions after undergoing illegal procedures. Roe vs. Wade. ”
Bhatia Swift Yasgar (LSW, MA) is a freelance writer with a counseling practice in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is a regular contributor to numerous medical publications, including Medscape and WebMD, and has authored several consumer health books, as well as Behind the Burqa: Our Lives in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom. He is also the author of “Memoirs of Two Brave Afghans”. sisters who told her their stories).
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