Thank you for taking this on. It is utterly despicable, both in theory and practice. It is important, however, to laser-focus on the elephant in the room, namely that the people who could possibly try to right these terrible injustices HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE, and the racist wokesters know this very well! It is an extremely rare person …
Thank you for taking this on. It is utterly despicable, both in theory and practice. It is important, however, to laser-focus on the elephant in the room, namely that the people who could possibly try to right these terrible injustices HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE, and the racist wokesters know this very well! It is an extremely rare person who will risk a lifetime of incredible effort to finish medical training to enter practice, and see it all evaporate to feed the the petty whims of the narcissistic/borderline cowards who are driving this narrative.
This is extremely serious: the turning away from excellence in admissions to health programs, the almost panicky drive to admit often underqualified members of protected groups to residency programs to avoid charges of "racism", the primacy of identity over clinical excellence, etc all these are creating a new "Dark Age" in medicine, where the grossest incompetence and quackery are celebrated. Patients are beginning to rightly fear interacting with a medical system that is actively abandoning any pretense of treating ALL patients with compassion and skill.
You nailed it. And I read a great article a few weeks ago on Quillette about how people having higher status to protect subconsciously edit their own thinking so as not to see the wrongthink and feel the obligation to confront it and thus risk their status or position.
As a retired health care provider, I abhor this focus on identity over all else. Unfortunately the “institutionalization” of medical practice has led most health care workers, including the physicians, to having their financial survival depend on not being fired. The golden days of kindly Dr. Welby practicing in his one-person solo office are long gone. This dependency on the institution is especially powerful in academia. What a vicious cycle.
Exactly. That is what so abhorrent to me are the affluent white wokesters that advocate something that will have no effect on them. If it’s guns, they live in gated communities and often have private security. If it’s education, their kids don’t go to public school. If it’s defunding the police, see first point. In health care as you point out they will have their own concierge doctors. Just like affluent people from Canada come to the US and pay out of pocket for surgery vs the socialized system at home. And on it goes. It’s all a sort “that would be good for you” mentality. They care little in reality for the very people they profess to care about. But instead it’s a narcissistic virtue signaling that allows them to remain a member in good standing on the cocktail circuit. I haven’t seen any prominent people from the woke squad say a word about or shed a tear for black children caught in the crossfire in Chicago and most other major American cities.
Yes. Defunding the police is a great idea if you are safe, and it doesn't need to be in a gated community. People who are relatively privileged nearly all live, work and play in safe spaces.
And no, they won't admit that the net result of defunding police is just more black deaths. Doesn't fit the narrative.
I know it'd be a huge risk for physicians to speak up against these trends, but perhaps they could take see inspiration from courageous journalists like Katie and Bari themselves. Those journalists bravely pursued stories that questioned prevailing narratives, and even though writing those pieces led to their departures from their outlets, they've achieved great success with their independent ventures. Similarly, maybe doctors who proclaim that they treat all patients equally regardless of immutable characteristics would have a line of new patients waiting to see them if they set up shop independently. Unfortunately, doctors teaching med students and/or residents would probably lose their teaching access if they questioned woke orthodoxy too loudly.
But are things that far gone that a doctor could realistically lose their license for disagreeing with woke orthodoxy and setting up a private practice? What are the guidelines for taking a physician's license away?
You only have to look as far as the ideological flap over hydroxychloroquine. Doctors were threatened with losing their license for prescribing a lifesaving drug.
If this craziness ever comes to fruition, the healthcare system will be even more fractured than it is. I don't know what it would look like or how it would be created, but people across the race and political spectrums don't want to live like this so we would eventually end up with parallel woke and non-woke healthcare systems. Law/regulations/reimbursements cause providers to be tied to large healthcare systems/institutions, so it would require new hospitals, new med schools, new nursing schools, possibly even new health insurance companies...on and on and on.
Thank you for taking this on. It is utterly despicable, both in theory and practice. It is important, however, to laser-focus on the elephant in the room, namely that the people who could possibly try to right these terrible injustices HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE, and the racist wokesters know this very well! It is an extremely rare person who will risk a lifetime of incredible effort to finish medical training to enter practice, and see it all evaporate to feed the the petty whims of the narcissistic/borderline cowards who are driving this narrative.
This is extremely serious: the turning away from excellence in admissions to health programs, the almost panicky drive to admit often underqualified members of protected groups to residency programs to avoid charges of "racism", the primacy of identity over clinical excellence, etc all these are creating a new "Dark Age" in medicine, where the grossest incompetence and quackery are celebrated. Patients are beginning to rightly fear interacting with a medical system that is actively abandoning any pretense of treating ALL patients with compassion and skill.
You nailed it. And I read a great article a few weeks ago on Quillette about how people having higher status to protect subconsciously edit their own thinking so as not to see the wrongthink and feel the obligation to confront it and thus risk their status or position.
That good people have more to lose than bad people is a problem in many areas, and it needs solving.
As a retired health care provider, I abhor this focus on identity over all else. Unfortunately the “institutionalization” of medical practice has led most health care workers, including the physicians, to having their financial survival depend on not being fired. The golden days of kindly Dr. Welby practicing in his one-person solo office are long gone. This dependency on the institution is especially powerful in academia. What a vicious cycle.
The wealthy will find the concierge docs while the poor will be driven to the woke docs. Classism will soon trump perceived racism in medicine.
Exactly. That is what so abhorrent to me are the affluent white wokesters that advocate something that will have no effect on them. If it’s guns, they live in gated communities and often have private security. If it’s education, their kids don’t go to public school. If it’s defunding the police, see first point. In health care as you point out they will have their own concierge doctors. Just like affluent people from Canada come to the US and pay out of pocket for surgery vs the socialized system at home. And on it goes. It’s all a sort “that would be good for you” mentality. They care little in reality for the very people they profess to care about. But instead it’s a narcissistic virtue signaling that allows them to remain a member in good standing on the cocktail circuit. I haven’t seen any prominent people from the woke squad say a word about or shed a tear for black children caught in the crossfire in Chicago and most other major American cities.
Yes. Defunding the police is a great idea if you are safe, and it doesn't need to be in a gated community. People who are relatively privileged nearly all live, work and play in safe spaces.
And no, they won't admit that the net result of defunding police is just more black deaths. Doesn't fit the narrative.
Well said all around. The last point you made is a litmus test of authenticity for the anti-racists.
I know it'd be a huge risk for physicians to speak up against these trends, but perhaps they could take see inspiration from courageous journalists like Katie and Bari themselves. Those journalists bravely pursued stories that questioned prevailing narratives, and even though writing those pieces led to their departures from their outlets, they've achieved great success with their independent ventures. Similarly, maybe doctors who proclaim that they treat all patients equally regardless of immutable characteristics would have a line of new patients waiting to see them if they set up shop independently. Unfortunately, doctors teaching med students and/or residents would probably lose their teaching access if they questioned woke orthodoxy too loudly.
Unfortunately, doctors can lose their licenses to practice medicine. They can't just set up an office on substack.
But are things that far gone that a doctor could realistically lose their license for disagreeing with woke orthodoxy and setting up a private practice? What are the guidelines for taking a physician's license away?
You only have to look as far as the ideological flap over hydroxychloroquine. Doctors were threatened with losing their license for prescribing a lifesaving drug.
If this craziness ever comes to fruition, the healthcare system will be even more fractured than it is. I don't know what it would look like or how it would be created, but people across the race and political spectrums don't want to live like this so we would eventually end up with parallel woke and non-woke healthcare systems. Law/regulations/reimbursements cause providers to be tied to large healthcare systems/institutions, so it would require new hospitals, new med schools, new nursing schools, possibly even new health insurance companies...on and on and on.
Separate but equal, its time has come around again.
It may not have actually happened yet, but it's surely in the woke pipeline.
The health care system is at real risk. Quality is dropping while computer charting is pristine.