Patient Care

5 Scripts to Use When You Disagree With Your Doctor

Originally published by UW Medicine’s Right as Rain

It’s normal to feel unsure or even hesitant when your doctor suggests a treatment plan that doesn’t quite sit right. But speaking up is not only allowed — it’s encouraged.

In this helpful article from Right as Rain, Dr. Adewunmi Nuga of UW Medicine offers five practical scripts to help you voice concerns, share your own research, ask for alternatives, or request a second opinion. These tools are designed to make hard conversations feel easier and to remind patients that care should be collaborative, not one-sided.

Whether it’s preparing for your visit, discussing family history, or navigating the patient-doctor power dynamic, these tips empower you to advocate for yourself — confidently and respectfully.

Read the full article on Right as Rain

A layout of medical items, including syringes, thermometers, pill bottles, tablets, and capsules, all in a matching coral color on a teal background.

Medical Management of Gender Diversity

Corinne S. Heinen, MD

This article provides context on the experiences and medical care of individuals who experience gender dysphoria for the benefit of oral and maxillofacial surgeons. The mechanism of action, effects, and side effects of medical therapies used for gender-affirming care are reviewed. Specific guidance for anesthetic care is given. Trauma-informed tools for care of transgender and gender-diverse patients are offered.

Read the article here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1042369923000997?via%3Dihub

Multi-colored silhouette of a diverse group of people

Examining the Primary Care Experiences of Refugee Communities

Washington state and King County continue to be top resettlement destinations for refugees in the United States; however, newly arrived refugees experience many challenges and barriers when accessing health services after resettlement.

Taylor N. Erickson, MPH

Read the summary: Examining the Primary Care Experiences of Refugee Communities in King County:
Recommendations for EthnoMed’s Primary Care Provider Toolkit – EthnoMed  

Read the full report: Microsoft Word – Examining the Primary Care Experiences of Refugee Communities in King County.docx (ethnomed.org) 

Pills spilled onto a blue background from an orage pill bottle.

Calculating estimated glomerular filtration rate without the race correction factor: Observations at a large academic medical system

Junyan Shi, Edwin G Lindo, Geoffrey S Baird, Bessie Young, Michael Ryan, J Ashley Jefferson, Rajnish Mehrotra, Patrick C Mathias, Andrew N Hoofnagle

From Science Direct: Changing from MDRD to CKD-EPINoRace could lead to a lower referral rate to nephrology. The distributions of creatinine and eGFR calculated with CKD-EPINoRace were not meaningfully different in Black and non-Black patients. Read the full article here.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0009898121001789

Get to Know: Yvonne Simpson, Senior Director of Language Access and Cultural Advocacy

From the UW Medicine: The Huddle

Reducing barriers to care is a key priority for Interpreter Services at UW Medicine. And that’s just what Yvonne Simpson does every day — working to ensure that interpreter services are used consistently and effectively across our locations.

Simpson has been a Spanish interpreter at Harborview since 2014 and has led the department for more than three years. On July 1, 2023, she began a systemwide position as senior director of Language Access and Cultural Advocacy.

Read the full article at The Huddle
Get to Know: Yvonne Simpson, Senior Director of Language Access and Cultural Advocacy

Advancing health equity with Illustrate Change

From Deloitte Digital: Currently, less than 5% of medical images show dark skin. Only 8% of medical illustrators identify as people of color. The Illustrate Change digital library, made possible by a grant from the Johnson & Johnson “Our Race to Health Equity” commitment, will house a collection of diverse medical illustrations across a range of health conditions. The library will continue to grow and evolve, reflecting a more representative patient population. The initial 25 images will represent 23 conditions across dermatology, maternal health, eye disease, oncology, general health, orthopedics, and hematology.

Read more at the original article here: https://www.deloittedigital.com/us/en/blog-list/2023/illustrate-change.html

Discrimination in LGBTQIA+ Health Care

From moneygeek.com:

Navigating the health care system isn’t easy. With complicated insurance terms, overworked doctors and year-long wait times to get appointments, seeing your doctor can be challenging. This difficulty increases tenfold for specific marginalized communities — such as the LGBTQIA+ community.

LGBTQIA+ patients face blatant discrimination in health care, including access to fewer providers and uninformed doctors. To reach a place of equitable health care for LGBTQIA+ individuals, much work still needs to be done. Proper training for doctors and medical staff and putting laws in place that protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ privacy are some ways health care can be improved.

In this guide, we’ll look at some LGBTQIA+ patients’ struggles, review equitable health care improvements and solutions and provide various resources for finding care.