Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, body size, and other factors have a significant bearing on whether you will be diagnosed and treated correctly. And health-care bias can mean the difference not just between suffering and relief but between life and death. 

On today’s episode of On Health, my guest, Angela Marshall MD, a board-certified internist, founder of Comprehensive Women's Health, Inc., and the author of the new book, Dismissed: Tackling the Biases that Undermine Our Health, shares the personal tragedy she experienced as a young mother and medical student that transformed the way she was to practice medicine, brings us front and centre into some of the core biases getting in the way of people getting good healthcare, and offers pragmatic solutions for providers to address and overcome their biases within a broken system. 

Angela not only explains what so many people feel so profoundly—that the system is working against them. It also reveals what healthcare practitioners, patients, and society in general can do to make it right.

For anyone who has ever felt vulnerable while navigating the healthcare system, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we delve into this vital topic and shed light on the ways in which biases impact patient care. 

Angela and I discuss:

How the death of a dear friend - a black woman MD, due to medical dismissal and the loss of her own infant son, also due to medical dismissal, have now galvanized her approach to being a physician.

The deep-rooted indoctrination into biases that continues to exist within medical education and the healthcare system - and what needs to be done to enact real change

Fat shaming and the importance of finding a provider you feel comfortable and safe with in a medical setting

How we can better advocate for ourselves when we are in medical settings, and when it's time to break up with your doctor

How we can find grace and compassion for ourselves when we've experienced medical dismissal. 


Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow your host on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. Follow Angela @angelawmarshall, find her book and learn more about Premedical Explorers at www.angelamarshallmd.com