Article
Doctors in their daily work encounter not only many different health tragedies but also effects of numerous life tragedies and social injustices. In the Polish healthcare system, the social/advice workers subsystem is insufficient and does not meet expectations of supporting patients in case of need. Doctors lack the tools to react appropriately to social problems and discrimination. They are overworked and focused on a medical condition that brought a patient to the hospital. They are highly educated about medicine, but they are not taught how to identify and react to social injustice.
Agnieszka Spyt – a medical doctor and Fellow of 2021 Humanity in Action Warsaw Fellowship/Academy of Human Rights plans to address some of those problems with the means of her Action Project. As Agnieszka explains,
“My goal is to raise awareness about the importance of a doctor’s role in recognizing social problems and informing the patient about possible ways to hammer out a solution. I strongly believe that doctors may play a tremendously important role in helping people with social problems and injustices to start a way out of it with a little more knowledge, goodwill, and a bunch of ready-to-share information.”
She is currently developing her idea to organise a human rights and anti-discrimination “summer school” for medical students or interns in their first years at work. It would last from five to ten days. Stay tuned for more information on this important project!