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Indian GPs and ASD

Arran

In my neck of the woods it's a case of find a GP who isn't Indian. The numbers must be so few that one could count them on their fingers.

It's a well known fact that young south Asians in Britain are attracted to studying medicine (the human body), and it's commonplace for their parents to push them to into becoming doctors, but it's rare for a south Asian to choose to study psychology (the human mind). Just visit a university and you will find about 2 out 3 students studying medicine are south Asian but the students studying psychology are almost exclusively white and British.

The south Asian community also happens to be behind the curve (for a multitude of reasons including those that are cultural or religious) when it comes to ASD than the white British middle class are. A significant proportion of south Asian medicine students attended private schools which often do not recognise ASD or want any children there with ASD.

Has anybody given any thought to the effects of this on getting a diagnosis of ASD via a GP? In general, GPs (of all races and backgrounds) are behind the curve when it comes to ASD but when cultural factors are brought into the picture it adds a new dimension. Trying to encourage more young Asians to study psychology will be like trying to encourage them to study classics - which is a subject they show virtually no interest in studying.

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    - Unsubstantiated generalisation surely? -
    Quote "Many white middle class (particularly male) doctors are
    emotionally hopeless and are little use to someone with an MH problem". 
    Have you evidence for this?  Are any doctors working class? or outside
    Harley street upper class?

    Touché!

    But "many" does not mean "most", I was certainly not suggesting that you should avoid white middle class doctors because a few of them might not be well suited to the task in hand. The category, that I was talking about, is exactly the type epitomised by Doc Martin.

    I understood Arran's references to class to be in relation to the individual's socio economic background prior to medical school.

    Is the fact you were diagnosed by an Indian consultant proof that Indians are the best people to diagnose autism? Other than personal experience can you provide evidence?

    Oh, for goodness' sake and the avoidance of doubt. I was giving a sample (n=1) of a case where one indian doctor had diagnosed someone from a different race, creed, colour etc as a counter to the idea that such a thing might not be likely. There are excellent and terrible doctors of all colours, ages, gender, religion, class and cultural heritages. My point is not to say that one type of doctor is better than another but to highlight the dangers of generalisation without glossing over the potential issues that can still exist.

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  • Former Member
    Former Member

    - Unsubstantiated generalisation surely? -
    Quote "Many white middle class (particularly male) doctors are
    emotionally hopeless and are little use to someone with an MH problem". 
    Have you evidence for this?  Are any doctors working class? or outside
    Harley street upper class?

    Touché!

    But "many" does not mean "most", I was certainly not suggesting that you should avoid white middle class doctors because a few of them might not be well suited to the task in hand. The category, that I was talking about, is exactly the type epitomised by Doc Martin.

    I understood Arran's references to class to be in relation to the individual's socio economic background prior to medical school.

    Is the fact you were diagnosed by an Indian consultant proof that Indians are the best people to diagnose autism? Other than personal experience can you provide evidence?

    Oh, for goodness' sake and the avoidance of doubt. I was giving a sample (n=1) of a case where one indian doctor had diagnosed someone from a different race, creed, colour etc as a counter to the idea that such a thing might not be likely. There are excellent and terrible doctors of all colours, ages, gender, religion, class and cultural heritages. My point is not to say that one type of doctor is better than another but to highlight the dangers of generalisation without glossing over the potential issues that can still exist.

Children
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