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Thread on Being a Chinese-American Hospital Administrator

April 12th, 2007

by Tony Chen

I've been avoiding this post for some time now. It's one of those topics that is sensitive, potentially uncomfortable, and definitely has multiple layers.

So, there's a lot of ways I could address this - I could writes pages upon pages about my experience as a Chinese kid growing up in southwest Virginia. I could write about how Chinese families typically view hospital administration as a career (though my family is very supportive). I could even talk about how I'm probably hypersensitive about being the only non-Caucasian in town hall meetings.

I just deleted a couple of paragraphs. All I'll say is that most of the "racism" I experience is self-imposed and lives in my head only. And I'm really enjoying my job, my progressive organization, and the fact that my path is a path less traveled for someone of my background. Mostly, I want to hear about other people's experiences with paths less traveled or being in the minority - please share in the comments. or if you prefer, send me an email (tony at hospital impact dot org) and I can post your experience completely anonymously.

UPDATE: A few anonymous comments I've received so far:

"In fact, the only time I've caught even a whiff of racism is on the odd occasion that an LCD projector doesn't work right and some people instantly look to me to fix it, rather than put in a call to IT."

The discrimination I sense in hospital administration seems to stem more from clinician vs. non-clinician conflicts ...which is likely another topic entirely.

I've worked very hard to establish a sterling repuation in the organization, but don't feel absolutely sure that race didn't play some part in some way, shape, or form. My hypertension comes more from feeling like I better do an amazing job than being the only non-Caucasian, but I often take notice of the fact that I'm the only non-Caucasian.

With much introspection, I've come to realize that I've experienced very little racism in the hospital.

Hospital administration positions are still dominated by middle-aged Caucasian men. The reality is that hospitals are conservative and risk-adverse organizations and senior level hospital administrators are almost viewed like elected officials. So it's difficult to have a minority or homosexual be the "face" of such an organization.

Just like any other ethnic background, a lot of Asian-Americans are most 'racist' or biased against their own race

I lack the 20+ years of experience of seasoned professionals in this field, and I am still working on completing my graduate degree. Strike one. I am a female, which carries certain stereotypes in the professional world, such as being too compassionate for co-workers, or “caring” too much about my work (hey, I’ve got passion, what can I say?). Strike two. To top it all off, I’m trying to prove to colleagues that not only is marketing a viable and fascinating field of study in and of itself, but also that it has important implications for the future of this industry. Strike three.

I feel as if this career path is reminiscent of grade school gym class, where I didn’t fit in and was always picked last for dodgeball. But, like you, I’m beginning to realize that most of this nonsense is all in my head.

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