Experts SLAM leads US medical schools to value ‘vigilance’

Experts warn that major medical schools in the United States are starting to evaluate “vigilance” rather than educating and preparing the next generation of doctors.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a University of Pennsylvania nephrologist and frequent critic of vigilance in medicine, wrote an editorial for the New York Post warning that many of the nation’s leading medical schools test prospective students for progressive beliefs before doing so for true medical aptitude.

Highlights Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, Duke University, the University of Pittsburgh, and other top programs that ask applicants to answer questions about their understanding of racism, social and political issues, and how they can contribute to advancement in their studies.

Goldfarb had previously warned that prudence affects the way medical schools recruit students. In June, it was revealed that the five major US medical schools had policies that could hurt access to white students.

Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians, ranked third in the United States, asks students how life experiences can help school in its pursuit of diversity.

“Elite medical schools are deliberately recruiting smart activists, jeopardizing their mission of educating doctors,” Goldfarb said.

It listed the top 50 medical schools ranked by US News and World Report, one of the nation’s most respected university rankings.

He found that most of this group had questions exploring what he described as “awakened concepts.”

“With regard to these medical schools, there is now a standard assumption that candidates understand and accept the tenets of awakening ideology,” he said.

America’s leading medical school, Harvard, is located in Boston, Massachusetts. He said the school asks candidates to share how their minority cultures, races and sexual orientations can create barriers to accessing medical education.

Dr. Some of these “wake-up” questions also go into the employee screening process, says Stanley Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania (pictured).

Prospective students were then asked how these factors influenced their choice of medical careers.

“Translation: Tell us how you want to solve social and political problems,” he wrote.

Vagelos College of Physicians from Columbia University in New York City’s Blue Bastion ranks third on the list.

The school asks applicants to describe how their past experiences will contribute to the school’s commitment to diversity.

Duke University School of Medicine, ranked sixth in Durham, North Carolina, tells all applicants that the schools are “against racism and injustice” and asks them to explain their understanding of racial and health disparities.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, ranked 14th, tells students that the school is interested in tackling systemic barriers, citing racism, homophobia and misogyny in particular.

Prospective students are then asked how they would choose to specifically respond to these barriers in their studies.

At the 19th University of California, Los Angeles, applicants are asked how disparities and disparities in education and healthcare affect their communities.

Not only are these world-class institutions, he continues: ‘This disturbing trend extends far beyond elite medical schools.

“We’ve found lower-ranking institutions that ask candidates to prove goodwill, from SUNY Downstate Medical Center to Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine.

“It appears that most US medical schools now actively select students who are ideologically aligned.”

He warns that some schools, like Indiana University in Bloomington, must apply for staff positions to answer similar questions.

“Medical schools are fast moving on a dangerous path. These institutions have already lowered standards of practice and teaching in the name of diversity; they are now doing an ideological litmus test for the doctors of the future,” he writes.

“Recruiting diligent activists instead of the most qualified candidates will undermine trust in the healthcare system and lead to worse health outcomes for patients.”

Although the United States is among the richest countries in the world, its healthcare system has lagged behind its peers.

In a study published by the Commonwealth Fund in 2021, America was ranked last among developed countries in terms of health quality.

The country also ranked last in overall patient outcomes, a staggering figure for the country that is home to many of the world’s leading education and research institutions.