Wokeism Corrupts Medical Education & Endangers Patients

This month, medical-school graduates will begin their postgraduate training positions and residencies nationwide. They’ll primarily work at teaching hospitals, which are charged with ensuring that these future physicians uphold the highest standards of patient care. Yet woke ideology is undermining this essential part of medical education in two ways. First, admissions and testing standards are being lowered in the name of diversity and equity. Second, victimization culture is making it harder to give low-performing and unqualified residents the feedback they need to avoid endangering patients.

This decline is being driven by trends in medical school, where activists have pressured administrators to drop strict testing standards on the grounds that testing is racist. At least 40 institutions and counting have given in, dropping MCAT requirements mainly for those who are “underrepresented in medicine.” The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where I served as associate dean, now waives the MCAT for certain applicants from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and several other institutions. S tudies show that lower MCAT scores predict poor performance in medical school, a greater likelihood of dropping out, and a lesser likelihood of comprehending the courses that matter most to patient care.

SG

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Stanley Goldfarb

Stanley Goldfarb, a former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, is the chairman of Do No Harm.

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This month, medical-school graduates will begin their postgraduate training positions and residencies nationwide. They’ll primarily work at teaching hospitals, which are charged with ensuring that these future physicians uphold the highest standards of patient care. Yet woke ideology is undermining this essential part of medical education in two ways. First, admissions and testing standards are being lowered in the name of diversity and equity. Second, victimization culture is making it harder to give low-performing and unqualified residents the feedback they need to avoid endangering patients.

This decline is being driven by trends in medical school, where activists have pressured administrators to drop strict testing standards on the grounds that testing is racist. At least 40 institutions and counting have given in, dropping MCAT requirements mainly for those who are “underrepresented in medicine.” The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where I served as associate dean, now waives the MCAT for certain applicants from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and several other institutions. S tudies show that lower MCAT scores predict poor performance in medical school, a greater likelihood of dropping out, and a lesser likelihood of comprehending the courses that matter most to patient care.