Physicians tend to rely on diagnostic criteria, including BMI, that can influence patients’ access to care, referrals, and insurance coverage for indicated interventions.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(7):E507-513. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.507.
Erica Chou, MD, Thomas Grawey, DO, and Jane B. Paige, PhD
Biases rooted in historically entrenched assumptions about medical supremacy are reified in popular cultural representations of health professionals and in students’ lived experiences.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(5):E338-343. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.338.
Lydia Smeltz, Susan M. Havercamp, PhD, and Lisa Meeks, PhD, MA
Lack of disability-competent health care contributes to inequitable health outcomes for persons with disabilities, the largest minoritized population in the world.
AMA J Ethics. 2024; 26(1):E54-61. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.54.
Nubia Chong, MD, Maria Mirabela Bodic, MD, Peter Steen, MD, Ludwing Salamanca, MD, PhD, and Stephanie LeMelle, MD, MS
Paternalistic language in patients’ health records is of specific ethical concern because it emphasizes clinicians’ power and patients’ vulnerabilities and can be demeaning and traumatizing.
AMA J Ethics. 2024; 26(3):E225-231. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.225
Inpatient psychiatric units are designed around the twin aims of treatment and containment, but emotional norms and tone also contribute to care environments.
AMA J Ethics. 2024; 26(3):E232-236. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.232.
Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, Aimee M. Grace, MD, MPH, and Nicole Littenberg, MD, MPH
Training for health care professionals on human trafficking should be informed by a human rights perspective and include prevention and identification of trafficking and treatment of trafficking-related health conditions.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(10):914-921. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.medu1-1510.
Ana E. Nunez, MD, Candace J. Robertson, MPH, and Jill A. Foster, MD
The Drexel University College of Medicine Women’s Health Education Program is a model for training medical students to screen for and respond to intimate partner violence.