The Politicization of the MCAT

Thwe Weekly Standard ^ | 5-4-18 | Devorah Goldman

[DeweyCA]

(Skip) Unfortunately, what Kirch in particular seems to want to create is a medical community that aligns as closely as possible with his particular political views—and to insist that future doctors accept those views as settled fact. This leaves students who don't share Kirch's (and the AAMC's) transform­ative vision with a difficult choice: Will they violate their own integrity in order to succeed?

The AAMC is not alone among accrediting institutions seeking to steer professions leftward. The American Psychological Association, which accredits a variety of graduate-level psychology programs, has taken strong positions on topics such as pay equality and gun control. The Council on Social Work Education, which accredits college-level and graduate social work programs, has also been outspoken on a range of issues, particularly regarding "social and economic justice." Yet this shift among medical educators is particularly alarming. One would expect the leaders of a scientific discipline to carefully distinguish between verifiable fact and opinion; the new MCAT blurs that line.

In his address at the AAMC's most recent annual meeting, Kirch said he "refuse[s] to live in a post-truth world" and insisted that doctors cannot "let bias influence patient care." But the AAMC's policy of imposing political litmus tests on future physicians is contributing to this trend. Integrity is among the most important qualities a doctor can possess—it entails doing the right thing when no one else is watching. With its politically loaded MCAT questions and "holistic" admissions recommendations, the AAMC is teaching aspiring physicians to compromise their integrity and adherence to the truth before their careers even begin.

[DeweyCA]

The article tells how the MCAT is now being politicized by Leftists. Questions now include discussions on the wage gap between men and women, abortion, institutional racism, immigration, and gender discrimination. They no longer care primarily about medical knowledge. They want to actively discriminate against conservatives, to keep them out of medical schools. This seems like the practices that were used against Christians in the old USSR.

[gattaca]

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[GnuThere]

Sounds like Obama’s wet dream. Don’t worry about grades; it’s all about your “life experiences” and social justice.
As if there’s not ENOUGH affirmative action and coddling in med school admissions already.
Who doesn’t want a doctor like that!?

[MUDDOG]

With its politically loaded MCAT questions and "holistic" admissions recommendations, the AAMC is teaching aspiring physicians to compromise their integrity and adherence to the truth before their careers even begin.

Bingo. Teaching medical students to lie from the get-go, in order to get a good grade on the test.

[Macoozie]

Easy solution.
Get rid of professional licensing.
It’s not needed, doesn’t improve care and increases costs.

“Professionalizing” everything is what Progressives do.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

[BobL]

After they added the essay to the SATs, I told my kids to always answer with a hard-left tilt, as they’re graded by SCHOOL TEACHERS.

...always worked, excellent scores for every one.

[bkopto]

When I was in medical school, nearly all of the minority admits had to repeat the second year. And this was long before this knucklehead Kirch was in charge of the MCAT.

[DeweyCA]

I advised my students to do the same thing. I told them that this is a game and they have to play by the Liberals’ rules in order to win. People may criticize me for giving these instructions, and I can understand their point-of-view, but I was also getting my students to be realistic and to hate the liberals’ bias and viewpoint discrimination. I wanted to make my students aware of the lies, bias and discrimination that Liberals inject into everything they control.

[dangerdoc]

Want to hire me as your surgeon?

[BobL]

“I advised my students to do the same thing. I told them that this is a game and they have to play by the Liberals’ rules in order to win.”

I say that ALL THE TIME on this forum, and other forums, when explaining what Trump is doing.

But with my kids, I even go a step further and tell them to FLAT-OUT LIE, if necessary, on their essay questions. So if the question is something like “Tell us about a time where you followed your friends into doing something that you later regretted doing”. Well, if nothing decent comes to mind, make up something. And while the question with the kid’s essay will be disclosed to the colleges, what college will spend the time needed to verify the information - so why bother being truthful, if you can do better by lying?

For example, if you say that you went target shooting with your friends, but didn’t tell your parents when you’d be home, so you regretted doing it - there goes your chance of getting into college (since you’ve labeled yourself a gun nut). A better answer might be saying that you purposely didn’t recycle because your friends told you it was a scam. You’ve since learned better and understand the harm that landfills and solid waste does to the environment. (harmless answer, and gets you some leftist street cred)