The University of Michigan medical students who walked out of their white coat ceremony missed a transcendent lecture about staying human in an age of machines.
A rare and deeply inspiring example of the best of America--the America we grew up in or arrived in from foreign shores until recently--the University of Michigan chooses a speaker based on her qualifications and reputation and doesn't back down when activists demand she be cancelled, Dr. Kristin Collier delivers a profound speech thoughtfully addressing the greatest ethical challenges doctors face today, Dr. Vinay Prasad, who holds different positions than Dr. Collier on religion and abortion, publicly comes to her defense, and Bari Weiss, who also has different positions than Dr. Collier on religion and abortion publishes Dr. Prasad's defense!
Bravo--what a great way to start the morning by reading this--and well done to all!
Take this and what we have seen at such places as Georgetown and Yale law schools and you quickly begin to think that our future professionals are nothing more than intellectually and spiritually weak, toddlers.
A strong person does not shy away from people with differing views but listens to them closely and measures the strength and weaknesses of their argument and then either adapts their thinking.
To me, this is just childish and it leaves me concerned about the character of our future professionals.
Well, those students started early with the arrogance that so limits people serving as M.D.s. At times, it is embarrassing to be a patient witnessing a doctor dripping with superiority who knows almost nothing about the illness in front of him/her. They look absurd as they follow their computer programs while the patient sits patiently. It is often more effective to talk to the neighbour over the fence who says, "Increase fiber. You'll be fine." I heard recently of an MD diagnosing someone as Borderline Personality Disorder after a 15 minute consultation. They do not teach them the extent of their gaps. My daughter is in Med school.
Well done UM for not caving to the student demands. Well done Dr. Collier for defending the right of choice to those who chose to walk out. Shame on those who refuse to listen to someone with whom they may disagree (especially when that person is there to help you in your chosen career). There are better times and ways to convey your own convictions.
I don't agree with Dr Collier's abortion stance (even if not fully defined). But I support her right to have it and respect her professionalism, expertise and acceptance that others may have different views.
Students of medicine, law, engineering or any other discipline will be stunted in their education if they adhere to a myopic, rigid world view that cannot tolerate…DIVERSITY. How ironic, that so many who claim diversity is our strength, are so flagrantly bigoted against anyone who holds beliefs different from their own.
I do not want to be the patient of a doctor who is merely a technician, or one who believes the divine spark of humanity—life—is merely a disposable commodity.
I’m beyond sick of the infantile, moronic left and their childish temper tantrums. If I was Dean that assembly would have been mandatory, and leaving it would result in you leaving the Medical school. To be on the left today means no accountability, no punishment for anything you do. It’s disgraceful.
I fear our society is doomed. Not because we are insufficiently teaching our children the technical skills. Oh yes, they take classes in coding and robotics, but because in the process of migrating our educational system to that, we’ve left something else behind.
When Howard University ended their classics department because of lack of representation, Cornell West wrote a powerful op-ed lamenting that decision, and wrote in part:
“Howard University is not removing its classics department in isolation. This is the result of a massive failure across the nation in “schooling,” which is now nothing more than the acquisition of skills, the acquisition of labels and the acquisition of jargon. Schooling is not education. Education draws out the uniqueness of people to be all that they can be in the light of their irreducible singularity. It is the maturation and cultivation of spiritually intact and morally equipped human beings.”
This also resonated with me because much like the Dr noted in the article I had a conversion from pro-choice to pro-life later in life. Which I wrote about here:
What kind of people do these students expect they will be treating once they are in practice? A physician has to deal with every possible type of person, with every possible type of belief, bias, ethnicity, body shape, sexuality, etc. Your job is not to judge people on their politics, but to heal them, regardless of what they are.
If you don’t have the capacity to sit in a lecture hall and listen to an innocuous speech by someone whose beliefs you disagree with, then you don’t have what it takes to be a medical doctor and should get out of there and let someone else take your place.
When i saw this on the news it literally made me sick - not only these spoiled entitled children walked out but their parents were in on it to - these are out future doctors - we have seen other instances about race as well- also with law schools - what is happening to the country I once loved - I hate everything progressives /liberals these days ! I used to be one - never again
My general rule of thumb is -- if you ever meet a "medical ethicist" of any sort who is not religious, run away as fast as you can, because surely they want to kill you. Eventually non-religious logic leads to euthanasia for mental illness, and then to the elderly, and eventually to you.
While I support abortion in cases where it's "self defense" (life of the mother, pregnancy due to rape, etc), and "morning after" contraception, I have profound respect for those who are consistently pro-life--at both the beginning and end of life, and including capital punishment.
These exiting students are ideologically brainwashed zealots. They’re in a cult. How else to describe people who need to make a public display of intolerance, a performance of dogmatic obedience?
*heavy sigh* you had me until I came to this part:
Dr. Collier has handled the whole thing with grace. She tweeted yesterday: “I’ve heard that some of the students who walked out have been harassed and targeted—please stop. Everyone has a right to stand up for what they believe in.”
What is there to say when the person who should be the most bothered by the whole thing not only buys into the lie that these students were “targeted” but also defends their right to blatantly disrespect her and her opinion? This isn’t showing grace, it’s being an apologist for abhorrent behavior and it’s the exact reason why we are where we are.
A rare and deeply inspiring example of the best of America--the America we grew up in or arrived in from foreign shores until recently--the University of Michigan chooses a speaker based on her qualifications and reputation and doesn't back down when activists demand she be cancelled, Dr. Kristin Collier delivers a profound speech thoughtfully addressing the greatest ethical challenges doctors face today, Dr. Vinay Prasad, who holds different positions than Dr. Collier on religion and abortion, publicly comes to her defense, and Bari Weiss, who also has different positions than Dr. Collier on religion and abortion publishes Dr. Prasad's defense!
Bravo--what a great way to start the morning by reading this--and well done to all!
Take this and what we have seen at such places as Georgetown and Yale law schools and you quickly begin to think that our future professionals are nothing more than intellectually and spiritually weak, toddlers.
A strong person does not shy away from people with differing views but listens to them closely and measures the strength and weaknesses of their argument and then either adapts their thinking.
To me, this is just childish and it leaves me concerned about the character of our future professionals.
There’s a term for people who hold others in contempt because of their personal beliefs: it’s called being bigoted.
The erosion of public health officials and health professionals in general will have many long lasting and deleterious effects on our society.
“While we support the rights of freedom of speech and religion, ...” they wrote. “We demand ...”
That these idjits can't see their own hypocrisy is astounding, to me anyway.
Well, those students started early with the arrogance that so limits people serving as M.D.s. At times, it is embarrassing to be a patient witnessing a doctor dripping with superiority who knows almost nothing about the illness in front of him/her. They look absurd as they follow their computer programs while the patient sits patiently. It is often more effective to talk to the neighbour over the fence who says, "Increase fiber. You'll be fine." I heard recently of an MD diagnosing someone as Borderline Personality Disorder after a 15 minute consultation. They do not teach them the extent of their gaps. My daughter is in Med school.
Will these same doctors refuse to care for pro-life patients?
Well done UM for not caving to the student demands. Well done Dr. Collier for defending the right of choice to those who chose to walk out. Shame on those who refuse to listen to someone with whom they may disagree (especially when that person is there to help you in your chosen career). There are better times and ways to convey your own convictions.
I don't agree with Dr Collier's abortion stance (even if not fully defined). But I support her right to have it and respect her professionalism, expertise and acceptance that others may have different views.
Students of medicine, law, engineering or any other discipline will be stunted in their education if they adhere to a myopic, rigid world view that cannot tolerate…DIVERSITY. How ironic, that so many who claim diversity is our strength, are so flagrantly bigoted against anyone who holds beliefs different from their own.
I do not want to be the patient of a doctor who is merely a technician, or one who believes the divine spark of humanity—life—is merely a disposable commodity.
I’m beyond sick of the infantile, moronic left and their childish temper tantrums. If I was Dean that assembly would have been mandatory, and leaving it would result in you leaving the Medical school. To be on the left today means no accountability, no punishment for anything you do. It’s disgraceful.
I fear our society is doomed. Not because we are insufficiently teaching our children the technical skills. Oh yes, they take classes in coding and robotics, but because in the process of migrating our educational system to that, we’ve left something else behind.
When Howard University ended their classics department because of lack of representation, Cornell West wrote a powerful op-ed lamenting that decision, and wrote in part:
“Howard University is not removing its classics department in isolation. This is the result of a massive failure across the nation in “schooling,” which is now nothing more than the acquisition of skills, the acquisition of labels and the acquisition of jargon. Schooling is not education. Education draws out the uniqueness of people to be all that they can be in the light of their irreducible singularity. It is the maturation and cultivation of spiritually intact and morally equipped human beings.”
This also resonated with me because much like the Dr noted in the article I had a conversion from pro-choice to pro-life later in life. Which I wrote about here:
https://gordoncomstock.substack.com/p/the-abortion-cave
Sad days.
I don’t know, the students that walked out seem like little more than cowards to me, and deserving of some vilification.
What kind of people do these students expect they will be treating once they are in practice? A physician has to deal with every possible type of person, with every possible type of belief, bias, ethnicity, body shape, sexuality, etc. Your job is not to judge people on their politics, but to heal them, regardless of what they are.
If you don’t have the capacity to sit in a lecture hall and listen to an innocuous speech by someone whose beliefs you disagree with, then you don’t have what it takes to be a medical doctor and should get out of there and let someone else take your place.
When i saw this on the news it literally made me sick - not only these spoiled entitled children walked out but their parents were in on it to - these are out future doctors - we have seen other instances about race as well- also with law schools - what is happening to the country I once loved - I hate everything progressives /liberals these days ! I used to be one - never again
My general rule of thumb is -- if you ever meet a "medical ethicist" of any sort who is not religious, run away as fast as you can, because surely they want to kill you. Eventually non-religious logic leads to euthanasia for mental illness, and then to the elderly, and eventually to you.
While I support abortion in cases where it's "self defense" (life of the mother, pregnancy due to rape, etc), and "morning after" contraception, I have profound respect for those who are consistently pro-life--at both the beginning and end of life, and including capital punishment.
These exiting students are ideologically brainwashed zealots. They’re in a cult. How else to describe people who need to make a public display of intolerance, a performance of dogmatic obedience?
*heavy sigh* you had me until I came to this part:
Dr. Collier has handled the whole thing with grace. She tweeted yesterday: “I’ve heard that some of the students who walked out have been harassed and targeted—please stop. Everyone has a right to stand up for what they believe in.”
What is there to say when the person who should be the most bothered by the whole thing not only buys into the lie that these students were “targeted” but also defends their right to blatantly disrespect her and her opinion? This isn’t showing grace, it’s being an apologist for abhorrent behavior and it’s the exact reason why we are where we are.