Diversity

[Guest]

https://twitter.com/aansdiversity/status...96162?s=10

Is this the right direction for neurosurgery? What about unsuspecting patients who don’t know they’re being treated by a diversity hire? This approach is spreading throughout society like a virus.

[Guest]

Neurosurgery has gone woke.

[Guest]

Unfortunately this has become a necessary PR campaign for every industry. Never mind all of these vocations that every sociologic study suggests women by choice do not want to enter, we must have every distribution reflect society's demographics.

Every twitter post of group photos at meetings that has > 50% white males in any specialty is now met with criticism, and the world refuses to admit that this has nothing to do with racism or discrimination, but simply reflects that candidate pool.

[Guest]

https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/n...le-pE6.xml

It’s like they’re looking for problems to fix.

In the past few years, Step 1 is P/F, there’s more survey and bibliometric research, more inequality research, more useless meta-analyses, active manipulations of rank order lists to match diversity. Quality is dropping from every angle. This is not good.

[Harvard / Yale Neurosurgeon]

This is a very important issue and it may very well affect the future of our specialty and the future of medicine. This effort on diversity means, by definition, fewer whites and Asians, and fewer men. So it means, by definition, that many top canidates will be denied the ability to pursue their dreams, not because of any personality flaw, not because of a character flaw, not for any academic flaw--but solely on account of their race/gender. 

Very disturbing. 

Secondly, it means that, be definition, less qualified people get to top positions. I do know that women OVERALL tend to spend less time at work--they tend to work part-time, and spend less time on research (which requires tremendous hours). (Cue in the angry posts about exceptions, I am talking about OVERALL). This means that the field will not advance as quickly, and that practitioners will be of lower quality (practice makes perfect). 

Very disturbing. 

Third, it means that PAs/NPs will have an easier time pushing increased scope of practice. They will point out to lower overall standards for doctors, a lack of surgeons (because women tend to practice less), and will make social justice arguments about equality and various perceived imbalances/injustices. Already at my son's school, med students are forced to have inter-professional workshops and they learn that APPs should have increased scope of practice, and that APPs are just another route to serve patients. 

Very disturbing. 

Finally, I am seeing many people lying about race/orientations/gender. I have seen many blonde-haired blue-eyed whites call themselves Hispanics because they have a relative from Spain. I have seen many Hispanics and South Asians lie about being African American because supposedly a relative is from the Caribbean. Many lie about orientation, claiming to be gay even if they have a girlfriend, or talk about being "gender transitioning"--all to increase their chances of med school and residency. This is creating a great amount of cynicism in certain quarters. 

Very disturbing. 

So this push on diversity will shape the future of this field and no one is even talking about it. 

Very disturbing.

[Guest]

and to think my co-residents think the bias against women in this field isn't real.... I should just send them to this thread. Despicable.

[CONCERNED ATTENDING]

WHEN INCOMPETENT PEOPLE BECOME NEUROSURGEONS BECAUSE THEY ARE FEMALE OR MINORITY, PATIENTS PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE, PATIENTS PAY WITH THEIR LIFE.

WE DON'T NEED DIVERSITY, WE NEED COMPETENCY. OFTENTIMES, THE TWO ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. 

[Guest]

Not surprised this forum is malignant and unapproachable as the field itself

[Guest]

This thread sounds a lot like "but all lives matter". Despicable comments without any data to back their mindset up, while, as much as I hate their approach, the diversity proponents have plenty of it

[Guest]

Makes me sad that once I match I'll just be looked at as a diversity hire because I'm a woman and brown.