Healthcare Disparities through a Dual Lens: Hispanic Patient Experiences and Physician Perceptions in the U.S. Healthcare System Public

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines the relationship between Hispanic patients and healthcare providers in the United States, exploring how frameworks of individual responsibility shape physicians' perceptions of Hispanic health disparities and perpetuate structural inequalities in healthcare delivery. Through semi-structured interviews with thirteen self-identified Hispanic individuals and nine physicians from various medical practices, the research reveals a significant disconnect between Hispanic patients' clinical experiences and physicians' perceptions of how Hispanic communities are served within medical institutions.

The study challenges the Hispanic Health Paradox—the epidemiological finding that Hispanic Americans tend to have better health outcomes despite lower socioeconomic status and barriers to healthcare access—by presenting Hispanic participants' lived experiences that demonstrate systemic failures rather than individual shortcomings. Findings indicate that physicians have been conditioned to self-regulate within existing healthcare structures, limiting possibilities for structural reform. The research argues that habituation and power dynamics have led physicians to consistently employ narrow cultural and structural frameworks that maintain the current healthcare system, while Hispanic participants' accounts not only demonstrate resilience in the face of health inequality but also offer critical perspectives on systemic barriers embedded in a for-profit medical system.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION.....................................................................1

CHAPTER TWO METHODS...........................................................................10

LIMITATIONS..............................................................................................16

CHAPTER THREE HISTORICAL REVIEW........................................................19

CHAPTER FOUR CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES................................................... 34

CHAPTER FIVE DOCTORS' PERSPECTIVES................................................... 50

CHAPTER SIX HISPANICS’ POINT OF VIEW.................................................. 72

CONCLUSION:.............................................................................................91

APPENDIX...................................................................................................95

BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................107

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Anthropology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Anthropology, Medical and Forensic Anthropology, Cultural
Mot-clé	qualitative study Physicians Hispanic Interviews Anthropology Health Hispanic Health Paradox
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Marsilli-Vargas, Xochiquetzal, Emory University
Committee Members	Phillips, Kristin, Emory University Stolley, Karen, Emory University

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