Health Care Disparities

I'm certainly not an expert on health care disparities, but I've begun to form my opinions after half a year on the wards. Of course, being at an academic institution in San Francisco colors my experiences, but health care disparities still exist. I've never seen conscious or deliberate manifestations of bias, stereotyping, or prejudice. But the problems I see are harder to solve. For example, I recently took care of a Spanish-speaking woman. Being good health care providers, we used translators liberally, especially in the initial history and physical as well as delivering important news and consenting for procedures. But despite this, I felt that there was a barrier in communication that I could not pinpoint. Although a translator ameliorates literal problems, it does not eliminate the communication barrier. Something's different about this social situation with another person in between me and the patient which may lead to less patient satisfaction, patient understanding, and overall rapport.