Christian Med Schools?

[chaeymaey]

I was checking out Loma Linda medical school's website today, and they mention that their mission statement includes producing doctors that will practice medicine from a "Christian perspective." Does this mean that you have to be Christian to attend that medical school or that you will be seen as inferior if you are not? I'm Muslim, so I don't want to waste my time (and money) applying to a school that I already know won't take me because of my religion. The school seems really nice and in a great location. What do y'all think?

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[dr.z]

You don't have to be Christian, but they prefer that you are one. I read on SDN that there was a Muslim student that was attending Loma Linda.

 

[UCLAstudent]

LLU primarily accepts Seventh Day Adventists, but it does accept a handful of non-SDA Christians and people of other religions. In general, they prefer religious people to non-religious people, so being Muslim could work to your advantage. Keep in mind that you would have to attend weekly chapels as a student at LLU; would you be comfortable with this?

 

[Mistress S]

You don't have to be a christian to go there, but as a non-christian I don't know how comfortable you would be. As their website clearly states, they teach from a "christian perspective", so the majority of students and teachers there will likely share this philosophy, and it will certianly affect the way certain ethical and other issues in medicine are presented and taught. As a non-christian, I decided not to apply to any school whose philosophy includes the belief that I will burn eternally for not sharing their precise beliefs. Just a personal preference. You have to decide for yourself how comfortable you are with that.

 

[alumafly]

I was checking out Loma Linda medical school's website today, and they mention that their mission statement includes producing doctors that will practice medicine from a "Christian perspective." Does this mean that you have to be Christian to attend that medical school or that you will be seen as inferior if you are not? I'm Muslim, so I don't want to waste my time (and money) applying to a school that I already know won't take me because of my religion. The school seems really nice and in a great location. What do y'all think?

since LLU is owned and operated by the 7th-day adventist cult..., er church, they show strong preference to its members.

i would steer clear of LLU if a Christian environment will make you uncomfortable.

 

[freaker]

since LLU is owned and operated by the 7th-day adventist cult..., er church, they show strong preference to its members.

Lay off the 7th Days. I'm not one of them, but your cult BS is garbage. No reason a school funded by a church shouldn't favor its own members.

Or do you have a problem with the fact that state schools give preference to state residents who pay their taxes, too? I think you'll agree that this is an absurd statement.

 

[meehawl]

Lay off the 7th Days. I'm not one of them, but your cult BS is garbage.

The difference between a cult and a church is about 200 years. The SDA dates back to the 1840s or so. If Loma is SDA, does that mean it doesn't offer meat on the menu?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church

 

[USCTex]

The difference between a cult and a church is about 200 years. The SDA dates back to the 1840s or so. If Loma is SDA, does that mean it doesn't offer meat on the menu?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church

I know a guy who did a pedi residency associated with them and I don't know about meat but their cafeterias defintley don't have anything with caffeine...including coffee...can you imagine doing your internship year and having no coffee on site? OUCH.

I think he would've mentioned the lack of meat along with coffee though...so I bet they serve it.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I know a guy who did a pedi residency associated with them and I don't know about meat but their cafeterias defintley don't have anything with caffeine...including coffee...can you imagine doing your internship year and having no coffee on site? OUCH.

I think he would've mentioned the lack of meat along with coffee though...so I bet they serve it.

They don't serve meat.

 

[vhawk]

Ok, to hijack this thread to serve my own purposes...anyone hear about any restrictions or hassles with being a non-Christian elsewhere, specifically GTown? I understand the whole abortion/stem cell thing, but anyone go there and feel undue pressure to be Christian or go to mass or anything crazy like that?

Also, to the comment about the cults, I am taking Religions of the World currently and we just had a couple of SDA's come in and talk to us. It is hilarious to me, as a non-Christian, to hear my christian classmates snickering and chuckling about those "crazy" beliefs the SDA's have...where to me, its indistinguishable from the "crazy" things any religion does. So yeah, the difference between a religion and a cult is 200 years and about three or four percentage points from the old census.

 

[Dr. Hugh Hefner]

Lay off the 7th Days. I'm not one of them, but your cult BS is garbage. No reason a school funded by a church shouldn't favor its own members.

Or do you have a problem with the fact that state schools give preference to state residents who pay their taxes, too? I think you'll agree that this is an absurd statement.

You're a lameass freaker. Okay, maybe sda's aren't a cult but your follow up statement about state schools and taxes is trollishly out of place (i think he was joking anyway)

I think you hit a nerve, fly. haha damn religious nuts

 

[microman]

...anyone hear about any restrictions or hassles with being a non-Christian elsewhere, specifically GTown? anyone go there and feel undue pressure to be Christian or go to mass or anything crazy like that?

From what I understand, GTown has a really secular environment. Unlike Loma Linda, students are NOT required to attend a weekly church service. Also, GTown has a class that talks about religious traditions in health care. This class has more of a pluralistic perspective than classes at Loma Linda, which specifically address the Christian perspective. GTown merely has Catholic roots.

 

[freaker]

You're a lameass freaker. Okay, maybe sda's aren't a cult but your follow up statement about state schools and taxes is trollishly out of place (i think he was joking anyway)

I think you hit a nerve, fly. haha damn religious nuts

Trollishly out of place? I don't think so. Especially if that was being used as a display of a cult-like mentality. If an organization puts up the funds for their students, its members ought to reap the benefits from it. You can make the ignorant claim that my post is out of place, but it's no mystery that highly ranked state-sponsored law schools are making moves to halt their ties with the state to up their applicant pool.

UVA and Michigan Law are two schools that are doing just that right now. They had originally attempted to keep the state funds, but the states balked when in-state students weren't benefitting from the new admissions criteria. My guess is that this is what Ohio State and a few other med schools are up to, as well. Of course, they're going to have to raise their own funds, as the state has no business funding them if schools aren't going to benefit in-state students. If I were a taxpayers in these states, I'd balk at their moves, too.

Likewise, if I was making donations that went to a medical school through my church, I'd think I'd like to see some preference for members of my church in the admissions process. The two issues really are directly related.

You can call me lameass all you want. I don't care. My guess is you wouldn't do it to my face, and I do think your commentary on my post speaks volumes as to your respect for the beliefs of others.

Anyone wanna f#$# with Mormons now? Buddhists?

 

[angelinebear]

I'm Seventh Day Adventist, and I honestly feel that many of the posters here who brand the faith as a "cult" are doing so out of ignorance about the denomination. So we have different beliefs than others...does that make us a cult? So our denomination, whose beliefs spring from older relgions, is relatively new, so what?. So we keep the Sabbath, we don't eat pork, etc. look at Leviticus 7:23 and on. (And to clear things up...contrary to popular belief, not all SDAs are vegetarian. I,for one, am not a vegetarian, and I have plently of SDA friends who eat meat.)

With all due respect, I think that before any of you decide to criticize or denounce our beliefs (or anyone else'se beliefs, for that matter), you should do your research ahead of time. Word of mouth, or some silly website by some anti-adventist fanatic on the internet does not suffice for research. You'll realize that our main beliefs do not differ much from the other Christian denominations.

 

[billybama]

I know a guy who did a pedi residency associated with them and I don't know about meat but their cafeterias defintley don't have anything with caffeine...including coffee...can you imagine doing your internship year and having no coffee on site? OUCH.

I think he would've mentioned the lack of meat along with coffee though...so I bet they serve it.

i know (from personal experience) that they serve meat to their hospital patients. they get a choice.

 

[NPursuit]

Haha! I thought about putting out some inflammatory remark about gays or Muslims or agnostics or bisexuals and just watching this thread explode. But I decided to be nice.

Freaker, no worries, bud. For whatever reason, SDAs and Mormons aren't a protected group. You won't see people getting all up their arses trying to defend them, even though they are minorities.

I'd bet the case is different with Buddhists. Otherwise you would have heard something about the hypocrisy of all these left coast self-described Buddhists who also call themselves hedonists. A hedonist Buddhist? Really now? This coming from the philosophy of a man who declared the essence of life to be pain and suffering and renounced his palaces and multiple wives to a life of asceticism. Yeah, whatever.

Interesting how this "protected class" thing works.

Meh. Whatever. It amuses me.

 

[CaliforniaBound]

I'm Seventh Day Adventist, and I honestly feel that many of the posters here who brand the faith as a "cult" are doing so out of ignorance about the denomination. So we have different beliefs than others...does that make us a cult? So our denomination, whose beliefs spring from older relgions, is relatively new, so what?. So we keep the Sabbath, we don't eat pork, etc. look at Leviticus 7:23 and on. (And to clear things up...contrary to popular belief, not all SDAs are vegetarian. I,for one, am not a vegetarian, and I have plently of SDA friends who eat meat.)

With all due respect, I think that before any of you decide to criticize or denounce our beliefs (or anyone else'se beliefs, for that matter), you should do your research ahead of time. Word of mouth, or some silly website by some anti-adventist fanatic on the internet does not suffice for research. You'll realize that our main beliefs do not differ much from the other Christian denominations.

I too am and SDA and it really irks me that people can make such absurd comments about the faith without doing research into it. Yes, there are certain standards that the SDA faith abides by, but I don't see anyone attacking other religions. Mormons, Muslims, and many other religions hold the same convictions about diet, sabbath keeping, and other religious activities as SDA's do. LLU is very clear that they prefer SDA's, and I don't see why everyone gets so upset and starts slamming on them. They are a private school, and can do whatever they wish. Just like Harvard or any other private school. And the whole thing that Freaker brought up is true. State schools have the right to discriminate against out of staters. They get their funds from the state, and so they show preference to people who are residents. LLU receives funds from the SDA church and so they show preference to their members. If you don't want to abide by the policies the school has, then don't apply there. Just don't rip on a school for having certain standards or calling them a cult. If you want the true definition of a cult, try doing a search. You will find that the SDA church does not fit with those definitions. I'm not trying to start a fight here, I just wish people would be more educated about something before they go off on a soapbox about it!

Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following 5 characteristics:
1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members

2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society

3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma

4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds
recruit people

5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society

Doesn't sound like SDA's to me!!!

 

[Mistress S]

I agree that seventh day adventists are not necessarily more bizarre or cultish than many other christian groups. Take that as you will.

 

[kornnata]

I'd bet the case is different with Buddhists. Otherwise you would have heard something about the hypocrisy of all these left coast self-described Buddhists who also call themselves hedonists. A hedonist Buddhist? Really now? This coming from the philosophy of a man who declared the essence of life to be pain and suffering and renounced his palaces and multiple wives to a life of asceticism. Yeah, whatever.

Interesting how this "protected class" thing works.

Meh. Whatever. It amuses me.

Is it suppose to be funny? If not, reading a few paragraphs from a few text books doesn't mean you know anything about a faith. If you are confused, please shut up.

 

[TexPre-Med]

I love how these posts get insanely off topic. The poster could care less what you think about other religions. This is a medical forum. That said, from what I've heard of Loma Linda, they are pretty strict on their rules. For instance I've heard (somebody could verify or it may be a rumor) that you have to sign a form at Loma Linda saying you will not drink, do drugs, or have sex (unless married). To say the least, I will not be applying there.