Diversity and inclusion—we talk about them. Some organizations have targets. Some even have communication campaigns on them. Yet, in medicine, like many other professions, we lag. According to American Medical Colleges (AAMC) data, “Only about 3 percent of doctors in the United States have a disability.” As an emergency department doctor with a spinal cord injury who uses a wheelchair, this data is thought-provoking.
Why are we not moving the needle?
Perhaps we have jumped the conversation too far, too quickly. We are an evidence-based profession, needing to know “why” we should do something rather than “to” do something. As Simon Sinek says, maybe we need to start with the why.
Maybe the better question is, why should we move the needle?
Globally, the same challenges are emerging for medicine. We are resource-stretched. Our identity is being tested. We are beginning to share tasks outside the profession. We are seeing colleagues take their own lives—a cultural issue. With the information age, trust in us wavers, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology is moving at an increasingly rapid pace. In 21st-century medicine, how do we deal with these changes? We must have the ability to think diversely.
“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking,” said George S. Patton. We have been thinking the same way for too long. In his book The Creative Destruction of Medicine, the cardiologist Eric Topol calls the profession ” sclerotic, even ossified,” one of the most resistant to change. If we are to move forward, stay relevant, and retain trust, we must be diverse thinkers who can address the problems of today.
What we need are not the same people. What we need are passionate people.
We might even reap other benefits, like disability inclusion, with less absenteeism, improved reputation, improved culture, and reduced risk. And let’s not forget our responsibility as trusted members of the community to uphold a commitment to human rights. Inclusion is a part of that.
Our time to be tested is not coming. It has come. One tool for us to thrive in this world is to start reflecting on the people in it and then use that strength to think anew. That is why this is important.
Dinesh B. Palipana is a physician and attorney in Australia.
