Liberal vs conservative med schools

mtlove said:

Which schools tend to have very liberal or very conservative students in the US? Please list only schools you have direct experience with and please include why you gave it that categorization. I am trying to decide where to apply and to not apply for med school.

Thanks,

mtlove

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Some schools have religious underpinnings, but beyond that, there isn't going to be much political bias. There will be liberal and conservative students and faculty at all schools. Medicine isn't really about that, and eg. how the liver works isn't a matter of party affiliation.

mtlove said:

Which schools tend to have very liberal or very conservative students in the US? Please list only schools you have direct experience with and please include why you gave it that categorization. I am trying to decide where to apply and to not apply for med school.

Thanks,

mtlove

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All medical schools tend to be very conservative institutions. Period. It's tradition. You'll find that very liberal universities still have medical colleges that are quite conservative. Now, there are some schools that tend to attract more liberal students - UCLA comes to mind - but, as far as administration goes, medical schools are stodgy, old-fasioned places. That's why I shaved off the beard/mustache I had worn for 20 years before I went to interviews (and quit shaving the day I was accepted). And was very glad that I did. Even here in the South, bow ties are still quite popular among folks in the Dean's office.

If you're wanting to associate with more liberal students - looking at websites can give you a pretty good clue. But, while most medical school administrations are quite conservative, most medical student bodies are fairly liberal. Since your chances of being accepted at any one school are far lower than your chances of being accepted overall, us medical students - even in different parts of the country - are more homogenous than you would imagine.

Focus more on getting in to the best school that will take you.

Actually, come to think about it... your best bet will be to look at the AMSA (American Medical Student Association) website. I'll leave the AMSA politics alone - I stand by my earlier statement that medical student bodies don't vary much - but, here in the South, my conservative school colleagues think that AMSA is just about the anti-Christ - but a large number of students still join AMSA even here in the Bible Belt. But, one thing you can count on - the schools with the largest AMSA chapters are the most liberal. Hope that helps.

But you honestly need to get over the idea that you can select the school that's going to take you. My school has routinely rejected people with 40 MCAT scores because they just didn't like the applicant's attitude - you'll be amazed at how random this process really is. If you want to be a physician, you'll go where you're accepted.

as a way to get a partial sample, you could look to see which schools had official lgbt, pro-choice, and physicians for social responsibility clubs.

Doctor~Detroit said:

as a way to get a partial sample, you could look to see which schools had official lgbt, pro-choice, and physicians for social responsibility clubs.

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LOL! AMSA has all of those subgroups, that's why I recommended it as a liberal-meter. Seriously - not only do you need to apply broadly and go where you're accepted, but who in the world is friends with an entire medical school class? Nobody I know has time to notice or to care. I'm a Class Officer, so I know just about everybody in my class - but I only have time to "hang" with the 18 people in my module. There are probably four or five people in my class that I can't stand - but I'm lucky if I actually get out to "play" once a month. I hate to sound overbearing, but I'm afraid the OP doesn't understand what the medical school experience is really like - especially for a mud-phud. Kiss your social life good-bye and welcome to the bookish life of a monk. I rarely know or care what the other students in my class are doing - nor do they care what I'm doing.

Just look at the state the school is in and the % of students that are from that same state... That should give you a pretty good idea, but i agree with everyone else. who cares?

Non-TradTulsa said:

I rarely know or care what the other students in my class are doing - nor do they care what I'm doing.

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Agreed. For all I know they are all fascist pagan idol worshippers who vote libertarian and sacrifice puppies in their spare time. It doesn't matter -- you will have bigger things to focus on.

Non-TradTulsa said:

Even here in the South, bow ties are still quite popular among folks in the Dean's office.

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Lol, the bowties crack me up. We even have students who wear them, lol. Anyway, I'm in the deep south in a school thats probably got a good chunk of conservatives, judging by my classmates facebooks at least, and as a tree huggin yankee NYC schooled buddhist, I can honestly say that it has never once been an issue. My embryology proff wore a bushncheny pin on his lapel, when I first saw this I immediately assumed that things were about to go horribly awry for me, but alas it was just an embryology class. I have alot of friends that I probably would have never made before but I think its a good experience to realize that you can have friends who have different political leanings. I've also found some other bleeding hearts within my class. The point is that medschool is all about keeping you far to busy to keep up with politics so even if you aren't surrounded by a homogeny of like minds it should really never be an issue durring your education.

Oh and about AMSA, its probably acutally a rather poor guage of liberalism because they give you a free Netters to sign up so everyone does it without even questioning what they are signing up for. I think almost all of my class belongs.

Law2Doc said:

Agreed. For all I know they are all fascist pagan idol worshippers who vote libertarian and sacrifice puppies in their spare time. It doesn't matter -- you will have bigger things to focus on.

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What else are puppies for man?

psipsina said:

Oh and about AMSA, its probably actually a rather poor guage of liberalism because they give you a free Netters to sign up so everyone does it without even questioning what they are signing up for. I think almost all of my class belongs.

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Absolutely. Med students value getting free stuff more than anything; certainly more than being labelled a liberal.

95% of all medical schools have overwhelmingly liberal student bodies and mostly liberal faculties. That is why being pro-choice, and even to a certain extent pro-socialized medicine in interviews has become almost dogmatic. Anybody who is strongly against these two issues is treading on dangerous ground with most of their interviewers. If the OP wants only left-leaning students just apply anywhere except Loma Linda, and probably most Jesuit schools.

psipsina said:

Oh and about AMSA, its probably acutally a rather poor guage of liberalism because they give you a free Netters to sign up so everyone does it without even questioning what they are signing up for. I think almost all of my class belongs.

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LOL... not at my school, it's not. You'll have a small group of students telling you that AMSA is a pinko communist conspiracy and beg you not to join - heck, *they'll* give you a Netters (I imagine Tom DeLay happily pays for the Netters). They also watch who the seditionists are who actually sign up at the AMSA table. I couldn't wait to join.

You do find your own friends. I have four or five people who share my liberal pinko seditionist views (and I'm the 45-year-old CPA in the class) and I often sit with those folks in class and we get a couple of minutes to visit before and after. Everyone finds his own spot no matter how conservative (or weird) the class is.

Here in the deep South, I was thoroughly weirded-out when, after an audience response opinion quiz in my Human Behavior course, I found out that about 5% of the class thought that all gay people should be locked-up in prison. Then I happily realized that 95% *didn't* think that. Everybody is liberal or conservative about different things - I'm pretty liberal, but I got awfully tired of watching the desensitizing sexual therapy films before noon. There's nothing wrong with genitalia, but I need a lot of coffee before I'm prepared to watch 20' high genitalia on the screen at 9 o'clock in the morning, for heaven's sake.

Non-TradTulsa said:

All medical schools tend to be very conservative institutions. Period. It's tradition. You'll find that very liberal universities still have medical colleges that are quite conservative. Now, there are some schools that tend to attract more liberal students - UCLA comes to mind - but, as far as administration goes, medical schools are stodgy, old-fasioned places. That's why I shaved off the beard/mustache I had worn for 20 years before I went to interviews (and quit shaving the day I was accepted). And was very glad that I did. Even here in the South, bow ties are still quite popular among folks in the Dean's office.

If you're wanting to associate with more liberal students - looking at websites can give you a pretty good clue. But, while most medical school administrations are quite conservative, most medical student bodies are fairly liberal. Since your chances of being accepted at any one school are far lower than your chances of being accepted overall, us medical students - even in different parts of the country - are more homogenous than you would imagine.

Focus more on getting in to the best school that will take you.

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I found that shaving the beard/mustache really was not necessary. There are plenty of doctors that have those, and plenty of conservative men, too. Hell, I was accepted at three Southern schools and no Northern ones (okay, waitlist at NYU). In fact, the lady at the admissions office at UT Memphis specifically remembered me because of the beard. It's really a non-issue in my experience.

Tyronebiggums said:

95% of all medical schools have overwhelmingly liberal student bodies and mostly liberal faculties. That is why being pro-choice, and even to a certain extent pro-socialized medicine in interviews has become almost dogmatic. Anybody who is strongly against these two issues is treading on dangerous ground with most of their interviewers. If the OP wants only left-leaning students just apply anywhere except Loma Linda, and probably most Jesuit schools.

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Wrong! Mostly conservative; that is why they all vote Republican

Law2Doc said:

Some schools have religious underpinnings, but beyond that, there isn't going to be much political bias. There will be liberal and conservative students and faculty at all schools. Medicine isn't really about that, and eg. how the liver works isn't a matter of party affiliation.

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well sure... maybe if you plan on spending the afterlife far away from the love of our sweet merciful God. However, as a non-hellbound medical student -- my liver works because Jesus tells it to.



...ps: op should avoid Loma Linda.

maestro1625 said:

my liver works because Jesus tells it to.

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Well, the question was liberal vs conservative, not christian vs non. So long as your liver isn't just working because W is telling it to, I think you are agreeing with me.

Law2Doc said:

Well, the question was liberal vs conservative, not christian vs non. So long as your liver isn't just working because W is telling it to, I think you are agreeing with me.

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Wait, I thought George Bush controlled the weather... I just assumed he controlled our livers too.

I thought all medschools were liberal.

Trismegistus4 said:

Wait, I thought George Bush controlled the weather... I just assumed he controlled our livers too.

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actually, that's Rove's job... takes care of party loyalty "issues"

sirus_virus said:

I thought all medschools were liberal.

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I thought all liberals were medschools.

Or is this one of those square/rectangle things?

sirus_virus said:

I thought all medschools were liberal.

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You've got a weird definition of liberal then. Or are you displaying the typical conservative reactionary thought process where anyone who doesn't worship at the altar of W is a liberal.

Doctor Bagel said:

You've got a weird definition of liberal then. Or are you displaying the typical conservative reactionary thought process where anyone who doesn't worship at the altar of W is a liberal.

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well how can you be a conservative but not support our troops? are you a terrorist?

mtlove said:

Which schools tend to have very liberal or very conservative students in the US? Please list only schools you have direct experience with and please include why you gave it that categorization. I am trying to decide where to apply and to not apply for med school.

Thanks,

mtlove

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i understand why you're asking. it's why i'm headed west -- though i guess i am more concerned with the political climate of the region in general than my med school class specifically.

Trismegistus4 said:

Wait, I thought George Bush controlled the weather... I just assumed he controlled our livers too.

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GWB doesn't control our livers, but if I go into liver failure, I can rest assured he'll tell me that my liver is working just fine for a few years. When that falls through, we'll just surge more doctors at it.

Depakote said:

GWB doesn't control our livers, but if I go into liver failure, I can rest assured he'll tell me that my liver is working just fine for a few years. When that falls through, we'll just surge more doctors at it.

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And if you complain that you feel your liver isn't working right, he'll say, "Why do you hate liberty and democracy?"

Depakote said:

GWB doesn't control our livers, but if I go into liver failure, I can rest assured he'll tell me that my liver is working just fine for a few years. When that falls through, we'll just surge more doctors at it.

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Yeah, but then Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would travel to where the liver cancer cells live and hold hands with the cancer cells in a circle around a campfire singing "coumbaya"...all while undermining the doctors trying to kill the liver cancer cells. In the end, Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would tell the doctors they have until the end of the day and regardless of whether or not the cancer threat is neutralized the doctors must then leave the patient alone. Meanwhile the cancer metastasizes and attacks the patient from within until the patient is dead. The cancer cells then use the flesh of the dead patient as a feeding ground for new up-and-coming cancer cells so they can travel to other patients of other countries spreading their death and destruction...fun stuff...

TroubleTheCat said:

Yeah, but then Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would travel to where the liver cancer cells live and hold hands with the cancer cells in a circle around a campfire singing "coumbaya"...all while undermining the doctors trying to kill the liver cancer cells. In the end, Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would tell the doctors they have until the end of the day and regardless of whether or not the cancer threat is neutralized the doctors must then leave the patient alone. Meanwhile the cancer metastasizes and attacks the patient from within until the patient is dead. The cancer cells then use the flesh of the dead patient as a feeding ground for new up-and-coming cancer cells so they can travel to other patients of other countries spreading their death and destruction...fun stuff...

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See, one more reason to be liberal: Conservatives just aren't funny.

Trismegistus4 said:

Wait, I thought George Bush controlled the weather... I just assumed he controlled our livers too.

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pennybridge said:

well how can you be a conservative but not support our troops? are you a terrorist?

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Depakote said:

GWB doesn't control our livers, but if I go into liver failure, I can rest assured he'll tell me that my liver is working just fine for a few years. When that falls through, we'll just surge more doctors at it.

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omegaxx said:

And if you complain that you feel your liver isn't working right, he'll say, "Why do you hate liberty and democracy?"

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TroubleTheCat said:

Yeah, but then Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would travel to where the liver cancer cells live and hold hands with the cancer cells in a circle around a campfire singing "coumbaya"...all while undermining the doctors trying to kill the liver cancer cells. In the end, Nancy Pelosi and the Dems would tell the doctors they have until the end of the day and regardless of whether or not the cancer threat is neutralized the doctors must then leave the patient alone. Meanwhile the cancer metastasizes and attacks the patient from within until the patient is dead. The cancer cells then use the flesh of the dead patient as a feeding ground for new up-and-coming cancer cells so they can travel to other patients of other countries spreading their death and destruction...fun stuff...

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Tired said:

See, one more reason to be liberal: Conservatives just aren't funny.

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perhaps not funny but apparently more clever.

Hey believe me, I aint laughin...never said it was the least bit funny, more just a sad realization...kinda reminds me of the good old 8 years when BJ Clinton was sitting in the oval office with his pants down...

Instatewaiter said:

perhaps not funny but apparently more clever.

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uh, no.

I would also like to make a distinction between traditional Republican/conservatives and the religion-fed "neo-conservatism" that Bush has created.

Republican/conservative used to mean states' rights, strict construction and small gov't which are pretty much the polar opposite of what Bush has done.

Doctor~Detroit said:

uh, no.

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really, that's all you could come up with... ironic no?

.

TroubleTheCat said:

Hey believe me, I aint laughin...never said it was the least bit funny, more just a sad realization...kinda reminds me of the good old 8 years when BJ Clinton was sitting in the oval office with his pants down...

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Yes, while clinton was getting a BJ, bush was learning to read and write.

mtlove said:

When did liberal vs conservative becomed defined as democrat vs republican. Many pre-meds obviously are not very up to date on the basics of political science and the definition of liberal and conservative.

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My apologies...it's just that in the last decade or two the term "democrat" has become sysonymous with the term "liberal" because moderate or conservative democrats are practically nowhere to be found in national public office. The entire democratic party has been hijacked by the far left wing hippies who have recently dusted off their anti-war protest signs and slogans they were using during the vietnam war era...

TroubleTheCat said:

My apologies...it's just that in the last decade or two the term "democrat" has become sysonymous with the term "liberal" because moderate or conservative democrats are practically nowhere to be found in national public office. The entire democratic party has been hijacked by the far left wing hippies who have recently dusted off their anti-war protest signs and slogans they were using during the vietnam war era...

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you don't ever know what you're talking about, do you?

TroubleTheCat said:

My apologies...it's just that in the last decade or two the term "democrat" has become sysonymous with the term "liberal" because moderate or conservative democrats are practically nowhere to be found in national public office. The entire democratic party has been hijacked by the far left wing hippies who have recently dusted off their anti-war protest signs and slogans they were using during the vietnam war era...

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If only . . .

The Democratic party has come to be dominated by the same big-business, big-money, pro-tax cuts, anti-social welfare forces that corrupted the party of Lincoln sixty years ago. The days of FDR are gone. Few Democrats today is willing to stand up for unions, civil rights, universal health care, gun control, fair trade, or affirmative action. Today what passes for the American "Liberal Politician" is a wealthy upper-crust fool who is more interested in pushing gay marriage, abortion, and toothless "anti-war" resolutions than they are actually supporting the working class.

Tired said:

If only . . .

The Democratic party has come to be dominated by the same big-business, big-money, pro-tax cuts, anti-social welfare forces that corrupted the party of Lincoln sixty years ago. The days of FDR are gone. Few Democrats today is willing to stand up for unions, civil rights, universal health care, gun control, fair trade, or affirmative action. Today what passes for the American "Liberal Politician" is a wealthy upper-crust fool who is more interested in pushing gay marriage, abortion, and toothless "anti-war" resolutions than they are actually supporting the working class.

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amen.
it's frustrating when a critical mass of the general population buys into the belief that essentially centrist ruling democrats represent a radical contingency. der, the left-wing intelligentsia went *neo-conservative* in the decades following vietnam, not socialist!

What we really need is a strong libertarian candidate.

i think most med schools' student bodies and faculty probably lean left. The amount of self-selection that goes into putting yourself into academic medicine, then doing teaching and/or research will generate that on the part of the faculty.

Tired said:

If only . . .

The Democratic party has come to be dominated by the same big-business, big-money, pro-tax cuts, anti-social welfare forces that corrupted the party of Lincoln sixty years ago. The days of FDR are gone. Few Democrats today is willing to stand up for unions, civil rights, universal health care, gun control, fair trade, or affirmative action. Today what passes for the American "Liberal Politician" is a wealthy upper-crust fool who is more interested in pushing gay marriage, abortion, and toothless "anti-war" resolutions than they are actually supporting the working class.

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Ahh yes, you liberals look up to FDR...the father of a (soon-to-be bankrupt) pyramid scheme masquerading as an entitlement program (a.k.a. social security). You mean to tell me that you support the president who enacted Executive Order 9066 placing Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII? You mean to tell me that we should be executing people for treason as FDR often did? You mean to tell me that we should censure the media as FDR did? You mean we should be ok with a president dragging us into a war where we suffer over 400,000 casualties through the course of 4 years, as FDR did? You mean we should be ok with a president appeasing the racist southern democrats by refusing to enact critical civil rights laws (such as anti-lynching laws)? You mean we should be ok with a president who dedicated millions of US tax dollars (billions when translated into current financial figures) towards creating the worst weapon of mass destruction known to mankind, who's vice president (Harry Truman) succeeded him and shortly afterwards dropped 2 of these such weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan?

Yeah...FDR's legacy lives on...he was a real hero in his day...It's just too bad all his fine work will directly lead to our demise with the continued nuclear weapons proliferation.

Tired said:

If only . . .

The Democratic party has come to be dominated by the same big-business, big-money, pro-tax cuts, anti-social welfare forces that corrupted the party of Lincoln sixty years ago. The days of FDR are gone. Few Democrats today is willing to stand up for unions, civil rights, universal health care, gun control, fair trade, or affirmative action. Today what passes for the American "Liberal Politician" is a wealthy upper-crust fool who is more interested in pushing gay marriage, abortion, and toothless "anti-war" resolutions than they are actually supporting the working class.

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Ahh yes, you liberals look up to FDR...the father of a (soon-to-be bankrupt) pyramid scheme masquerading as an entitlement program (a.k.a. social security). You mean to tell me that you support the president who enacted Executive Order 9066 placing Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII? You mean to tell me that we should be executing people for treason as FDR often did? You mean to tell me that we should censure the media as FDR did? You mean we should be ok with a president dragging us into a war where we suffer over 400,000 casualties through the course of 4 years, as FDR did? You mean we should be ok with a president appeasing the racist southern democrats by refusing to enact critical civil rights laws (such as anti-lynching laws)? You mean we should be ok with a president who dedicated millions of US tax dollars (billions when translated into current financial figures) towards creating the worst weapon of mass destruction known to mankind, who's vice president (Harry Truman) succeeded him and shortly afterwards dropped 2 of these such weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan?

Yeah...FDR's legacy lives on...he was a real hero in his day...It's just too bad all his fine work will directly lead to our demise with the continued nuclear weapons proliferation.

Trouble, you're from west michigan, aren't you?

Just wanted to chime in here in defense of the Jesuit schools. I am at Loyola, am openly gay, and lean left of center politically. I fit in just fine here, the school is NOT anything like Loma Linda is rumored to be. I love it here and have nothing but good things to say. If you have any questions PM me.

sirus_virus said:

I thought all medschools were liberal.

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Common misconception. I have two examples... Texas Tech and Texas A&M... they can't even spell liberal because it is blasphemous.

Tyronebiggums said:

If the OP wants only left-leaning students just apply anywhere except Loma Linda, and probably most Jesuit schools.

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actually, since the jesuit schools place a large emphasis on social justice and service, they generally have a very socially liberal set of ideals...of course, if people are just talking about pro-life/pro-choice (as many people seem to think this is what defines conservative/liberal), then the jesuit schools will be "conservative."