Many of us must have heard about a recent D e sperate Housewives episode where the character played by Teri Hatcher denigrated Philippine medical doctors by asking, “Can I see his diploma, just to make sure it did not come from some med school in the Philippines?” or words to that effect. This caused a major uproar among Filipinos, including those living abroad, which then led to the issuance of an apology by the producers of this very popular television show. The knee-jerk reaction from the Filipino community is quite understandable, considering the fact that numerous Philippine medical school graduates have excelled and continue to excel in their fields in various parts of the world, including the United States. Therefore, this act of belittling the quality of medical education in the Philippines is extremely offensive and undeserved. Beyond the knee-jerk reaction however, this incident should also remind us that racial stereotyping is a deeply embedded and systemic probl