Leading United States medical schools are beginning to value ‘wokeism’ instead of teaching and preparing the next generation of doctors, experts warn.
Dr Stanley Goldfarb, a nephrologist at the University of Pennsylvania and often-critic of woke values in the medical field, penned an op-ed for the New York Post warning that many of the nation’s leading medical schools are screening prospective students for progressive beliefs before they do for actual medical talent.
He highlights top programs at Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, Duke University, the University of Pittsburgh and others asking applicants to answer questions about their understanding of racism, social and political issues – and how they will contribute towards progressivism in their studies.
Goldfarb has previously warned that wokeism is having an effect on the way medical schools recruit students. In June, he blew the whistle that five leading U.S. medical schools had policies in place that could harm white students’ ability to get into them.
Harvard University Medical School, the top ranked institute in America, asks students to share how minority cultures, races, sexual orientations may have barriers to access medical education
Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians, ranked third in America, asks students how their life experiences can help the school’s commitment to diversity
‘Elite medical schools are deliberately recruiting woke activists, jeopardizing their mission of training physicians,’ Goldfarb said.
He reviewed the top 50 medical schools as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, one of the most respected lists of college standings in the nation.
Of that group, he found that a massive portion had questions that gauged what he described as ‘woke concepts’.
‘Across these medical schools, there is now a default assumption that applicants understand and accept the tenets of woke ideology,’ he said.
America’s top ranked medical school is at Harvard, in Boston, Massachusetts. He says that the school asks applicants to share how minority cultures, races, sexual orientations may have barriers to access medical education.
Dr Stanley Goldfarb (pictured), of the University of Pennsylvania, says that some of these ‘woke’ questions are entering the screening process for staff members as well
It then asked prospective students how those factors influenced their choice to pursue a career in medicine.
‘Translation: Tell us how you want to solve social and political problems,’ he wrote.
Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians, in the blue-bastion of New York City, comes in third on the list.
The school asks applicants to describe how their past experiences will contribute towards the school’s commitment to diversity.
Sixth-ranked Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, North Carolina, tells all applicants about the schools ‘stand against racism and injustice’ before asking them to describe their understanding of race and it inequalities in health care.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, in 14th place, tells students that the school is interested in combatting systemic barriers, and mentions racism, homophobia and misogyny specifically.
It then asks prospective students how they will specifically choose to respond to these barriers within their work.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, ranked 19th, applicants are asked how inequality and disparities in education and healthcare have affected their community.
It is not just these top ties institutions either, he continues: ‘this worrisome trend extends far beyond elite medical schools.
‘We found a larger number of lower-ranked institutions asking applicants to demonstrate their woke bona fides as well — everything from SUNY Downstate Medical Center to Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine.
‘It appears the majority of American medical schools now actively screen for ideologically aligned students.’
He warns that some schools, like Indiana University in Bloomington are requiring applicants to staff positions to answer similar questions as well.
‘Medical schools are rushing down a dangerous road. These institutions have long lowered application and educational standards in the name of diversity; now they are enacting an ideological litmus test for future physicians,’ he writes.
‘Recruiting woke activists instead of the most qualified candidates will both undermine trust in health care and lead to worse health outcomes for patients.’
Despite the United States being among the wealthiest nation’s on earth, its health care system has fallen behind compared to its peers.
America ranked last among developed nations in health care quality in a study by the Commonwealth Fund published in 2021.
The nation also ranked last in overall patient outcomes – a staggering figure for the country that houses many of the world’s leading educational and research institutions.
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