From U Miami: Skin color and medical student's attitudes toward obesity

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22356951

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2012;173:23-9.
Medical Students' Attitudes toward Obese Patient Avatars of Different Skin Color.
Andrade AD, Ruiz JG, Mintzer MJ, Cifuentes P, Anam R, Diem J, Gómez-Marín O, Sun H, Roos BA.
Source
Laboratory of E-Learning & Multimedia Research (LEMUR), Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Bruce W. Carter VAMC, University of Miami.

Abstract
Physicians' biases for skin color and obesity may negatively affect health-care outcomes. Identification of these biases is the first step to address the problem. We randomized 128 U.S medical students into one of four animated videos of avatar physician-patient counseling sessions, varying the weight and skin color of an elderly patient avatar: white-thin, black-thin, white-obese and black-obese. Medical students viewed white obese avatars as unattractive, ugly, noncompliant, lazy, and sloppy. Medical students' comments suggested a paternalistic attitude toward avatar patients. Avatar-mediated experiences can elicit medical students' bias potentially enabling medical educators to implement bias reduction interventions.