BMI, school application requirement

[D1Bound]

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This is a curious question that I have. I don't know of a single institution for any program out there that does this. Is it legal to require a BMI or a body fat percentage test for a medical school application? What if a school had a philosophy of mandatory physical education and wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle amongst students and took this into account when screening applicants?

 

[gyngyn]

USUHS may have such criteria.
You might try the MilMed forum.

Military Medicine

Discussion of Medical Corps issues.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[D1Bound]

USUHS may have such criteria.
You might try the MilMed forum.

Military Medicine

Discussion of Medical Corps issues.

forums.studentdoctor.net

That makes sense for the military. You have to be healthy to join. But are there civilian programs that discriminate based on fitness and weight?

 

[gyngyn]

But are there civilian programs that discriminate based on fitness and weight?

No.

 

[anna01106]

This is a curious question that I have. I don't know of a single institution for any program out there that does this. Is it legal to require a BMI or a body fat percentage test for a medical school application? What if a school had a philosophy of mandatory physical education and wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle amongst students and took this into account when screening applicants?

If a medical school is only looking at BMI to measure physical health, they're not training physicians properly.

 

[D1Bound]

If a medical school is only looking at BMI to measure physical health, they're not training physicians properly.

Notice how I included fat percentage.

 

[proudofmykids]

Regarding legality, private institutions very likely would still be challenged, and still have a very good chance of winning a case that required a certain factor like BMI. Some of the Ivy schools last year won their appeal when sued for reverse discrimination of Asian students. AFAIK, they won because as a private institution, they Are entitled to Shape (no pun intended) a class to just about any standards they like, especially if they don’t fully eliminate all of a ‘class-type’, and still be considered in compliance of Title VI.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

As mentioned above there are certain ways schools could thread the needle if they wanted to especially private schools. That being said, in reality it's only a military phenomena and I doubt it would ever reach civilian education. Even if it was well intentioned, it would be a headache no administration would ever want to put on their plate.

David D MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[D1Bound]

Regarding legality, private institutions very likely would still be challenged, and still have a very good chance of winning a case that required a certain factor like BMI. Some of the Ivy schools last year won their appeal when sued for reverse discrimination of Asian students. AFAIK, they won because as a private institution, they Are entitled to Shape (no pun intended) a class to just about any standards they like, especially if they don’t fully eliminate all of a ‘class-type’, and still be considered in compliance of Title VI.

I did not hear about the conclusion of that case. Can a school have a class made up entirely of one race if they choose then? I wouldn't think that would be legal but your post sounds like schools can do whatever they please

 

[mmchick]

I did not hear about the conclusion of that case. Can a school have a class made up entirely of one race if they choose then? I wouldn't think that would be legal but your post sounds like schools can do whatever they please

Like they said, so long as an entire class of people is not excluded, they can typically get away with it.

Of course no school is going to have a BMI requirement.. no where else is anything like this applied, except perhaps really physical jobs like military or fitness. So medical schools typically operate much like the rest of society. Now, no one can say whether interviewers judge people based on their outward appearance and if there is discrimination applied just on the appearance of whether an interviewee is overweight or not. I have tended to notice that most medical classes do not have a whole lot of people that are overweight, from what it's worth. But no, no application is going to ask for your BMI or require that on paper.

 

[deleted1091661]

I did not hear about the conclusion of that case. Can a school have a class made up entirely of one race if they choose then? I wouldn't think that would be legal but your post sounds like schools can do whatever they please

My medical school only allows people who can bench at least 315 lbs for reps to be accepted.

 

[proudofmykids]

My medical school only allows people who can bench at least 315 lbs for reps to be accepted.

Much more realistic than those who want to include the extra quarters for reps at 365.

 

[MEtoMD]

My medical school only allows people who can bench at least 315 lbs for reps to be accepted.

100% match into ortho surg

 

[ChiDO]

100% match into ortho surg

Bench + USMLE > 500 required

 

[anna01106]

Notice how I included fat percentage.

The same argument applies.

 

[Goro]

This is a curious question that I have. I don't know of a single institution for any program out there that does this. Is it legal to require a BMI or a body fat percentage test for a medical school application? What if a school had a philosophy of mandatory physical education and wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle amongst students and took this into account when screening applicants?

A doctor who is overweight, even obese, is likely to inspire more confidence from patients with similar conditions, as they feel that their doctor will be able to relate to their issues.

 

[proudofmykids]

A doctor who is overweight, even obese, is likely to inspire more confidence from patients with similar conditions, as they feel that their doctor will be able to relate to their issues.

But said doctor wouldn’t be walking the talk.

 

[D1Bound]

A doctor who is overweight, even obese, is likely to inspire more confidence from patients with similar conditions, as they feel that their doctor will be able to relate to their issues.

They would probably think "Well this smart doctor is also obese like me, everything is okay then."

 

[Goro]

They would probably think "Well this smart doctor is also obese like me, I can trust him/her"

FTFY