28 Comments

Most doctors are politically illiterate and ideologically motivated. That’s a dangerous combination.

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Of course, physicians and other medical professionals are free to participate in politics. Fine to post a sign on your lawn or display a bumper sticker. Contribute cash or volunteer for whatever party. But keep your views out of the exam room, consultation room and surgery. i.e. It is wrong to put pressure on a patient 'to vote', just as it is wrong to put pressure to go to church. The physician or medical professional is certain to reveal their political bias even in a supposedly neutral stance on recommending voting. This poisons the doctor-patient relationship.

The left-wing 'save our democracy' argument can easily be inverted in favor of the right-wing: Is the new Calif Transgender law that forces state involvement in parenting really pro-democracy? Are ridiculous covid restrictions really pro-democracy?

Bottom line: It is highly unprofessional to insert political campaigning in medicine. In a medical setting one must practice political agnosticism.

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I did not and will not discuss or even hint toward politics in the exam room.

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Physicians should not let their patients know their political views. Why? Because a conservative patient (like I), will know that if a progressive doctor figures out I am conservative, he will feel contempt for me. How do I know that? Because the physicians here in CA who have expressed political views to me in my capacity as a drug rep do so in a sneering, contemptuous way (assuming I agree with them).

If I walk into a clinician's office, say to get an AML diagnosis, and the MD has anti-Republican articles posted on his office door, I will lose confidence in his ability to treat me.

If a physician expresses a rudimentary understanding of an issue like climate change or gun control, I will doubt his intelligence.

Bottom line: Practice medicine, not politics.

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Being professional means staying in your lane. If you step out of your lane it only makes you look like a foolish tool of some ideology.

Being professional also means not wearing the gang colors of your religion, ethnicity, or ideology. If you wear gay pride symbols or crucifixes on your clothing, what does that say to people who are not in your tribe? That they are not going to be treated as carefully as your tribal members ? That they should become actively antagonistic towards you, because you are going out of your way to incite inter-tribal conflict ? It raises issues that are disruptive and irrelevant to medical care.

Dress professionally and neutrally and respect your patients, they almost certainly know more than you do about a whole lot of issues.

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I don't think a cross (or a Star of David or a Hindu symbol) are in the same category as a pride pin. Most faith traditions emphasize compassion and service. A pride pin suggests intolerance of people skeptical of the alphabet agenda.

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I agree that most religions have mellowed out to become genuinely inclusive and tolerant. And that the Pride movement is intolerant and uses coercion to enforce compliance.

However it is still true that religious symbols signify that the wearer belongs to a distinct group/tribe/gang. We need to get away from declarations of tribal identity generally in society, especially in a medical setting.

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Maybe you are overly sensitive? I see people wearing religious symbols all the time and barely take notice.

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Just being consistent. As I said these symbols identify you as part of a particular tribe .

Historically nearly everybody in America could identify somehow with Christianity. Even if they were atheists , they had family members and friends who were Christian. People didn't pay much attention to those symbols. That is no longer the case..

And with the current conflict in the MIddle East,, the Star of David and the Crescent Moon and Star, both have connotations that incite division.

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interesting that the federal government is now openly enlisting the medical profession to support its political agenda through patients. As per: https://freebeacon.com/elections/meet-the-little-known-activist-group-that-has-tens-of-thousands-of-doctors-registering-patients-to-vote/

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This is a serious issue of election interference. Government should not be involved in selective get-out-the-vote programs, but this appears to be the norm in Democrat run jurisdictions. When I worked for the county mental health service in the Portland area I recieved messages encouraring me to vote. Remember the "Zuckebucks" program in 2020, where Mark Zuckerkerberg funneled $10 million dollars into Wisconsin alone to fund local government voting drives in Democat strongholds, to tilt the state to vote for Biden.

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This is NUTS but of no surprise.

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Minnesota is also home to the United healthcare conglomerate. Part of the United Empire, Optim serve is hired by our government too help the government define waste fraud and abuse. Interesting since United healthcare is often in hot water for committing waste fraud and abuse

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I will FOREVER support this substack! Thank you from 🇨🇦.

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We should treat this issue the way we'd treat it with anyone:

If you were in a restaurant and your waitress said you should go vote, you'd be like "we're having dinner, leave us alone." If she wore a Biden or MAGA pin, you'd feel like you're being advertised to. If she posts her political views on twitter - well, what the heck are you doing reading them anyways? That's her personal feed.... Free speech in private situations.

Same thing goes for doctors. In the office, no politics during business. Outside the office and on your own time, feel free to canvas or tweet, and if your patients find out, it's up to them whether they want to keep going to you or not, but what are they doing on your feed anyways? It's your personal feed... Free speech in private situations.

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Nice segue from why trust in doctors is failing...

Shows the hubris of doctors (who do this). What do I care what my cardiologist thinks? What do I care about what my surgeon thinks? What makes you think we care??? Go to another pharma sponsored cruise and STFU about politics. I know. I know. Some will say "but we don't know if they promoted Harris/dems" Come on now...we know. we. know.

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You are ignorant of pharma rules. I was a rep for 25 years. No cruises, ski trips, etc. A cheap sandwich is all we have to offer. Not even a pen, lol.

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I can only imagine which party would encourage this sort of nonsense.

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Republicans?

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Both, if you are asking what my imagination was insinuating.

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since most institutions (political, administrative, corporate, media, academic, entertainment) are run by left-leaning individuals, those same left-leaning individuals are going to advocate for imposing their worldview on others. They have the power, and they want to wield it.

Exercising power over another human makes you feel good. get that dopamine hit baby!

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Good idea to avoid political discussions with patients unless you know their persuasions and are comfortable discussing briefly. However, all your posts are politically tinged. With various implications, that is all the fault of one party.

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I'm a staunch conservative (not necessarily "Republican"). My rules-of-thumb have always been twofold: 1) If a patient wants to bring up politics, and furthermore asks what my personal views are, I am happy to talk about all of it. Otherwise, I don't bring it up. 2) If someone of an opposing view brings up politics, I always find common ground. I don't waste their visit time on polemics. I need them to know the walls and halls of my clinic are sacred, and I'm there to love them no matter what.

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Aug 7Edited

Should Doctors Comment about Politics? Up to the individual.

I would ask the question "Is it WISE for doctors to comment about politics?" It is probably not wise for doctors to comment about politics. Sadly, lack of wisdom is ubiquitous. Too many conflate knowledge or intelligence with wisdom.

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Excellent point about wisdom. I know I have a feeble mind and understand little of true wisdom. However I know this, that wisdom has something to to with having a wide and long term perspective and acting in accordance with a set of priorities that support and protect the people you care about.

Doctors may wish for limitless spending on medical services or pandemic lockdowns but they are ignorant of the damge that this does to the wider economy and the overall quality of life for people. Doctors may push for the expansion of the regulatory state but are ignorant or dismissive of the wider Constitutional issues of individual freedom that are involved.

I came into medicine after working in IT. I rarely got the impression that my physician colleages were particularly bright, let alone wise. But they usually told themselves they were.

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Since you’re so contemptuous of your physician colleagues’ intelligence and comprehension, I wonder why you stay in medicine st all?

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It's a slippery slope folks. It starts with the doctor, moves to the priest, a nun, pharmacist, nurse, policemen/women, Aunt Mae Belle, who has voted Republican for the last 70 years, but tells everyone she won't tell because it's a secret., it'll end when there are no enclosures to the voting booths, everyone will see everyone else's vote and either slap 'em on the back as an "atta boy" or sucker punch him/her for voting incorrectly.

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