Physicians develop biases against obese patients due to inadequate education on obesity during medical school, explained Janine V. Kyrillos, MD, FACP, of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and the Sidney Kimmel Medical College. She hypothesized that physicians become frustrated with the lack of solutions they have to offer and then shift the blame onto the patients.
Physicians develop biases against obese patients due to inadequate education on obesity during medical school, explained Janine V. Kyrillos, MD, FACP, of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and the Sidney Kimmel Medical College. She hypothesized that physicians become frustrated with the lack of solutions they have to offer and then shift the blame onto the patients.
Physicians are one of the highest sources of bias when it comes to obesity. Why do you think that is?
Because most physicians are not knowledgeable. We don’t learn enough about obesity in medical school—even today, it’s not a big part of the curriculum. And physicians get frustrated because we don’t really have a lot of great options to offer the patient, so it’s very difficult. We want the patients to lose weight, we want to help them, we want them to be healthier, but we don’t really have a whole lot to offer so we sort of switch the blame to them and say, "well, you’ve gotta figure this out," and they can’t either.
With such a large percentage of US citizens overweight or obese today, is this changing the way the disease is taught to physicians in medical school?
I think really we need to teach the teachers a lot, too. There’s so much new data and education about obesity that transferring that to the educators and the medical students is difficult. And that bias pervades also, even the faculty and the teachers don’t really understand it unless they’re really up to date on things.
In my own institution I really pushed to implement an obesity bias lecture during the racism and bias week that the medical students undergo. And it didn’t stick, they didn’t do it the next year. I’m hoping more schools will do those kinds of things and show how it really affects patients.
Dr Dalia Rotstein: Physicians Must Be Aware MS Affects People of All Backgrounds
April 24th 2024Dalia Rotstein, MD, MPH, emphazises the importance of awareness that multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts patients from various backgrounds as clinicians think through ways to improve access to care and research efforts in MS.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Beyond Insulin: The Impact of Next-Generation Diabetes Technology
April 17th 2024Experts explain how new diabetes technologies like continuous glucose monitors are transforming care beyond intensive insulin therapy, offering personalized insights and improving outcomes for patients of all treatment levels.
Read More
Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
Listen
Increasing Lp(a) Awareness for Better Cardiovascular Health: Dr Mary McGowan
March 24th 2024For Lp(a) Awareness Day, Mary McGowan, MD, FNLA, chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, highlights how most people with elevated Lp(a) are completely unaware that they have this increased risk and calls for increased testing.
Read More