Dr. Barry Bain
Appearances
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
So, Miguel, I have just a couple of paths that I just want to put out there. In my 35 years of practicing as a family physician, I became very aware that there were waves of, you know, immigration into Minnesota in particular. I'm thinking, you know, we had the Hmong population in the 70s. Somali, Ethiopian, Karen, Latino populations.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
And so it sounds like from a disparities perspective, it's always a moving target when you get a new group of people into the community who are not necessarily aware of how to access care, language issues, education. Obviously, the pie chart that I hope
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
our listeners will go to that pie chart, which will be posted because I think there's a sense that, oh yeah, it's the clinical care piece that one of the threads that I see is this education piece that you alluded to in talking about the Latino population and graduating high school.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
And a lot of determinants like health behaviors, if you're not educated about them, it's hard to change those kinds of things. And then from a community perspective, a more educated community might be able to have a bit more leverage at least in terms of some of the social and economic factors.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
And I will get to a question or a thing for more conversation of how that pie chart breaks things up to see where the big levers are and It seems like the bigger the piece of that pie, the more complicated that it is to get into that. But to circle back, I was just wondering what you have seen regarding influx of groups from other countries that have different customs, different cultures.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
And then as a Caucasian physician, my cultural competency early on was very low. And I was very grateful to be able to have this initiative to really understand what you have to do to be culturally competent. And it really changes the face of how you interact with patients. Understanding that a Hmong patient can relate better with a Hmong physician.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
A Latino patient can have a better relationship potentially with the Latino physician. And so that's another piece is that minority groups tend to be underrepresented as well within the medical community. So I'll just kind of, you know, those are my thinkings about this. I just wonder if you could Maybe touch on some of those or share some of your perspectives. Be very interested.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
Anyway, sorry, I have to go a bit on a tangent. Just one thing. I really like that term of cultural humility rather than cultural competency because I never felt
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
competent i uh i had a lot of humility i like to learn things so right so it was always interesting to me to learn those new things but i think having that that mindset you can never know enough and it was always what i didn't know and it was always there there was so much so much more i didn't know than what i know so maybe if i became you know again less less incompetent but that you need humility for that as well i really appreciate hearing it
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
put in that way was very, very helpful for me. Thanks. Yeah, yeah.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
Barry, last comments. Well, I just want to thank Miguel for helping to increase my humility quotient, which I think will make me a lot smarter and a lot more compassionate and a lot more understanding. And it's one of those things that it's good to be engaging in that Not to mention, again, the conversation here was just awesome.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
And I was so glad that I reached out to you, that I thought of you to come on here. Because that helps my standing with Stan and Clarence that I get some good guests.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
You're good with us. You're good with us. This was just a wonderful conversation. A great health chatter, Stan and Clarence. And just again, thank you so much. And obviously we're scratching the surface on this.
Health Chatter
Health Disparities
There's a lot more that we could do, but, but having this reflection, you know, you need that step before you go to some action, but it just increases awareness and you just start to see things through a different lens. And that's always very helpful.