ABSTRACT
Doctors will encounter a wide range of people from different backgrounds and cultures during their professional careers. These people may live quite varied and colourful lifestyles, and hold beliefs/practices that may not necessarily be in harmony with their own. Doctors, like everyone else, inevitably have their own opinions and perceptions about different groups and individuals. More often than not, people’s ideas and opinions are derived from depictions in the media, which can be misrepresent and be ill-informed, creating stereotypes. When such stereotypes are acted upon or cause a change in behaviour towards an individual, this is known as discrimination and the person acting this way is prejudiced. In the context of the medical profession, holding a prejudice may mean a doctor assuming something about a patient that is incorrect and allowing this assumption to cloud or affect their judgement towards them. In essence, a patient is discriminated against and treated differently simply because of a prejudice held against them.
