HERE a commenter explains what radical egalitarianism and its obliteration of respect for natural distinctions has done to medical education and the medical profession in the United States.

James N., a physician, writes:

In the post on the medical profession, the reader “A” said, “Solution? Extremely high standards for admission [to medical school], including demonstrated competence in language, math, science, logic and physical and psychological vigor…”

OK, I agree.

Where are you going to find 18,000 22-year-olds like that, per year?

In 1969-72, the number of American medical schools was raised from 88 to 132, and the number of U.S. medical graduates (USMGs) was correspondingly increased from about 8,900 to around 18,000. This was done as a matter of public policy, to increase “opportunities” for the usual suspects, and has never really been justified or even properly evaluated.

For the schools, awash in federal funding, of course, the answer is that “the students are better than ever, in addition to brilliant, they are socially aware, compassionate, and, of course, diverse.”

There is no organized body or force which is capable of critically evaluating these statements, and critical evaluation is, of course, illegal. In a famous case in the 1970s, a medical student in St. Louis was denied graduation despite high test scores because she “lacked professionalism.” Of course she sued, and of course she won. The effect was elimination of the oral portion of most exams, including the Internal Medicine board exam, because of the problem of subjectivity.

The result of 40 years of up to 9000 state-required but unqualified medical graduates/year is visible only in the underside of society – malpractice suits, state licensing boards unable to process complaints because of volume, and, of course, bad outcomes, especially among the poor and disadvantaged.

The doubling of USMGs in the 1969-72 period (well, actually, four years later) was an example of an educational vision, or paradigm, which has failed everywhere it has been tried – that is, “it’s not the students, it’s the teachers (or the schools, or the money, or the access). In other words, if you build enough schools, and hire enough teachers, and spend enough money, that your output of properly educated students will correspondingly increase (No Child will be Left Behind).

A’s high standards for admission to medical school are in place: Test scores and grades, which are the only legal standards, are higher than ever. But the tests are fraudulent and the grades are made up. Demonstrated competence by performance, instead of “objective” testing? Psychological vigor? Illegal, and worse, anti-diversity.

And the prospective medical students all come from the educational holocaust that is American schooling and American higher education. In 1967, there were 8,900 American college graduates who were qualified to enter medical school. This is almost certainly no longer true. Not 8,900, and CERTAINLY not 18,000.

In 1967, you could still go to school in most places and get a good education if you were smart and worke d hard. Who believes this is true today?

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