{"id":138692,"date":"2023-12-08T13:36:42","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=138692"},"modified":"2023-12-08T13:36:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:36:42","slug":"physicians-propose-med-schools-focus-more-on-oppression-race-than-medical-expertise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/physicians-propose-med-schools-focus-more-on-oppression-race-than-medical-expertise\/","title":{"rendered":"Physicians propose med schools focus more on ‘oppression,’ ‘race’ than ‘medical expertise’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recommendation comes from Canadian Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons proposal to teach Canadian medical students more about \u201canti-racism\u201d and \u201coppression\u201d than \u201cmedical expertise\u201d has doctors and academics alarmed.<\/p>\n

This week, Do No Harm, a medical watchdog group, launched<\/a> a petition for physicians to oppose the recommendation, saying it would \u201ccorrupt medicine\u201d in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons may force medical students to learn more about \u2018anti-racism\u2019 than actual medicine. Canadian health care is on the fast track to racial division and discrimination,\u201d the organization stated Monday.<\/p>\n

The proposal comes from an interim report<\/a> by the college\u2019s Anti-Racism Expert Working Group. The Royal College oversees medical school education programs in Canada.<\/p>\n

Medical training should center around \u201cvalues such as anti-oppression, anti-racism, and social justice, rather than medical expertise,\u201d according to the report, shared in late November by a member of the working group.<\/p>\n

The interim report recommends \u201cde-centering medical expertise\u201d and instead focusing medical school education on the values of \u201canti-racism,\u201d \u201canti-oppression,\u201d \u201csocial justice and equity,\u201d \u201cinclusive compassion,\u201d and \u201cdecolonization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not satire. These parasitic idea pathogens will destroy the world,\u201d Concordia University Professor Gad Saad responded<\/a> Thursday on X.<\/p>\n

Saad, an evolutionary behavioral scientist and author in Montreal, said he learned about the report from a Canadian physician who was alarmed by the proposals.<\/p>\n

The report makes recommendations regarding the Royal College\u2019s CanMEDS, the framework for physician training in Canada; it is scheduled to be updated in 2025, according to Do No Harm.<\/p>\n

In the report, the working group suggests CanMEDS currently focuses too much on \u201cmedical expertise over all other facets of medical care\u201d and downplays \u201ccritical aspects of medical practice such as advocacy, collaboration and communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proposing a shift towards a model that centres values\u201d such as “anti-racism and anti-oppression,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The working group also wants medical students to be taught to recognize \u201chistory in terms of the power structures that have come into existence over centuries which shape everything we do daily eg. White supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

Dr. Roy Eappen, a practicing endocrinologist in Montreal and senior fellow with Do No Harm, said the proposal is very concerning for the future of medicine in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients expect competence from their physicians in diagnoses and treatment,\u201d Eappen said in a statement. \u201cThey expect compassion and a thorough knowledge of their field and the emerging knowledge in their fields. The Royal College has a long tradition of excellence in teaching and upholding the profession. The new proposals seem to abrogate that tradition of excellence. We do not do our patients or our profession any favours by taking our eyes off the real goal of patient care and wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Doctors should practice \u2018anti-racist documentation,\u2019 paper argues<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada\/Facebook<\/p>\n

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