The Downside of Woke Healthcare

First off, let me start by saying I am Jewish, I served as President Trump’s Ambassador and endorsed him the day he announced he was running again, so it’s not like I need to give the woke Left another reason to hate me — but here’s one more.

As a doctor and surgeon, I’ve dedicated my life to upholding the highest standards of medical care. Today, I sound the alarm: the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) threaten to erode the very foundation of our healthcare system, jeopardizing the lives of every American.

Consider the journey of a medical professional — a rigorous eight-year odyssey from the halls of academia to the high-stakes environment of the emergency room. In that critical moment when a life hangs in the balance, excellence is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Yet, we are witnessing the alarming rise of what I call “mediocre medicine,” where merit is overshadowed by misguided notions of diversity.

Make no mistake, America was once the envy of the world because we championed meritocracy. We trained the best and brightest, regardless of race or background, fostering a culture of excellence. But now, under the guise of DEI, our institutions have succumbed to a dangerous narrative where qualifications take a backseat to identity politics.

As we witness doors and panels dropping off planes, unqualified teachers indoctrinating our children, and our weak military becoming the laughingstock of the world stage, the infiltration of DEI into our medical schools presents yet another alarming threat. DEI initiatives, under the guise of promoting ethnic diversity, risk creating a generation of doctors and healthcare providers who are inferior due to lowered standards driven by so-called diversity. The consequences of this ideological shift in medical education have yet to fully materialize, but the potential ramifications for patient care and public health are deeply concerning.

Take, for example, the manipulation of medical school admissions. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a benchmark of academic aptitude, has been compromised in the name of diversity quotas. Instead of raising the bar for all students, universities have opted to lower standards, admitting candidates based not on merit, but on race. Astonishingly, the average MCAT score of rejected Asian applicants closely mirrors that of enrolled black students. This misguided approach has led some institutions to consider eliminating the MCAT altogether to meet their diversity quotas. Rather than elevating standards for all students, this move would sacrifice excellence in favor of checking a box, ultimately undermining the integrity of medical education.

This insidious practice not only undermines the integrity of our medical education system but also poses a grave threat to patient safety. Medical professionals are prioritizing pronoun preferences over proper surgical procedure. Consider the recent case of a North Carolina medical student boasting about injuring a patient highlights the perilous consequences of prioritizing ideology over competence. Multiple Ivy League Schools, once  bastions of academic excellence, now offer courses like ‘Social Change and the Practice of Medicine,’ wherein aspiring doctors are groomed to become advocates for social change rather than focusing on the core principles of medical science and patient care. Such ideological indoctrination undermines the very essence of medical education, diverting attention from the paramount goal of equipping future physicians with the knowledge and skills necessary to save lives. This shift towards activism over competency only exacerbates the crisis of mediocre medicine and imperils the well-being of patients nationwide.

Moreover, the push for DEI in medical schools is symptomatic of a broader ideological shift in academia as the law school panels also aim to eliminate the LSAT testing. Radical activists masquerading as educators seek to indoctrinate future physicians with socialist dogma, relegating medical training to a mere afterthought.

We must reject this assault on excellence and reaffirm our commitment to merit-based principles. When lives are on the line, there is no room for compromise. As a seasoned practitioner, I’ve witnessed firsthand the stark contrast between the excellence of American medicine and the subpar standards of communist regimes.

Karl Marx’s ideology has permeated American medicine with a deep influence of socialist principles in our healthcare system. From the erosion of individual autonomy to the prioritization of collective welfare over patient-centered care, Marxist ideology has reshaped the landscape of American medicine. These are dangerous Marxist principles leading to the erosion of medical ethics and the rise of bureaucratic control in healthcare decision-making. America must embrace the core tenets of medical practice, rooted in individual liberty, free market principles, and the Hippocratic Oath and it is imperative that we remain vigilant in safeguarding the integrity of our healthcare system and preserving the doctor-patient relationship at its core.

Let us heed the warnings of esteemed voices in the medical community, such as Dr. Greg Murphy and Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, who adamantly oppose DEI’s intrusion into medical education. Their advocacy for preserving the Hippocratic Oath and prioritizing patient care over political agendas must not fall on deaf ears.

I urge my fellow Americans to stand firm against the encroachment of DEI ideology in our healthcare system. We must staunchly defend the integrity of medical education from ideological infiltration, reaffirming our commitment to excellence and patient-centered care above all else. Let us reclaim the mantle of American exceptionalism by championing merit, not mediocrity, in medical education. The future of our nation’s health depends on it.

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Ambassador Jeff Gunter, MD, is an American healthcare executive, philanthropist, diplomat, and former U.S. Ambassador serving as the 24th United States Ambassador to Iceland. He is currently running for United States Senate in Nevada.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.