Vol. 14 No. 2 (2021): A Year after the Pandemic
Editorial

What's in a Name? Why it is of vital importance to get the pronunciation right? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Professor Indranil Chakravorty PhD FRCP
St George's University Hospital, London, UK
Bio

Published 2021-08-15

Keywords

  • microaggressions,
  • foreigners,
  • mispronunciation of names

How to Cite

Chakravorty, I. (2021). What’s in a Name? Why it is of vital importance to get the pronunciation right? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Sushruta Journal of Health Policy & Opinion, 14(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.38192/14.2.12

Abstract

Health services across the world are on the one hand the most regulated of all professions, the workforce planning is the most advanced and the restrictions on licence to practice most stringent, especially across borders- yet the workforce is dependent on the ability of large scale movement of professionals across nation-states. The UK NHS has over 41% of its doctors and a quarter of all nurses who were born / trained overseas. This is not much different to many other advanced health systems.

It is also recognised that patient outcomes, recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals who are in great demand depends on autonomy, job satisfaction and a sense of value, equality and a just environment.

A fundamental tenet of equality, celebrating diversity and inclusion is how organisation or society deals with the immigrant professionals or ‘foreigners’. The ability to correctly pronounce ‘foreign’ names is one of the fundamental and most obvious demonstration of respect one accords to a fellow human.

There is a long standing practice of transfiguring foreign sounding names to anglicised or westernized versions for ease of use. The westernization of foreign names is predominantly imposed by the dominant segments of populations on those considered inferior. There is clear evidence of social inequalities linked to one’s race, ethnicity, immigration and gender. Transfiguring one’s name is a clear example of such discrimination, microaggression and a form of bias.

It is time that we understood the impact of such microaggressions of colleagues and our patients. It should be vital for all professionals to take the time and attention needed to get the pronunciation right and in the process understand the cultural diversity, identity and demonstrate due respect and equality. It is also imperative on those of us with foreign sounding names that we help colleagues navigate the rich heritage of our culture and identity and do so with humility. It can only then be a win-win for all.

References

  1. August 2021 NK. Minority ethnic staff ‘told to adopt Western names’ by managers. Health Service Journal. https://www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/minority-ethnic-staff-told-to-adopt-western-names-by-managers/7030644.article (accessed 13 Aug 2021).
  2. BAME staff at NHS trust told to use ‘Western names’. BBC News. 2021.https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-58076939 (accessed 13 Aug 2021).
  3. The racist practice of mispronouncing names. 2019.https://www.kuow.org/stories/a-rose-by-any-other-name-would-not-be-me (accessed 14 Aug 2021).
  4. Understanding Name-Based Microaggressions | Psychology Today United Kingdom. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/underdog-psychology/201909/understanding-name-based-microaggressions (accessed 14 Aug 2021).
  5. Putsch RW, Joyce M. Dealing with Patients from Other Cultures. In: Walker HK, Hall WD, Hurst JW, eds. Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations. Boston: : Butterworths 1990. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK340/ (accessed 13 Aug 2021).
  6. Esmail A, Everington S. Racial discrimination against doctors from ethnic minorities. BMJ 1993;306:691–2. doi:10.1136/bmj.306.6879.691
  7. Bertrand M, Mullainathan S. Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. American Economic Review 2004;94:991–1013. doi:10.1257/0002828042002561
  8. Payne KE, Philyaw Z, Rabow J, et al. Names: a new dimension of transformation. Race Ethnicity and Education 2018;21:564–71. doi:10.1080/13613324.2016.1248832
  9. Why pronouncing students’ names correctly is vital | Tes News. https://www.tes.com/news/why-pronouncing-pupils-names-correctly-so-important (accessed 13 Aug 2021).