Illegal interview question?

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Nevermind y'all didn't like my post.
 
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SusanGMaxwell said:
Look, I'm a woman. But even I am not offended when someone asks "Why choose medicine...you know...as a woman?". It is simply more common for women to take care of the kids and choose less demanding, more sympathizing careers such as nursing or teaching than men. Men are more aggressive and emotionally resilient, so they are more equipped to handle the pressures of medical school, residency, etc. Evolutionarily speaking, they are more motivated. No one cares if a hot girl is living with her parents doing nothing but Netflix... but a guy? Lol he would be a joke. Watch at 1:05, 1:43 here . If that was my boyfriend, he wouldn't flinch. He would flick off the car and take control. (getting a bit off topic here, sorry) Do you want them operating on your body? Men and women ARE different (sorry, Target), so there WILL be completely rational objections to people like me.
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This is it boys. This is what a 8.5/10 troll looks like. Well done
 
The discrimination is revealed in the question by the questioner.

Asking a question in an interview implicitly suggests that is being used to determine your qualifications for the position.

I wouldn't ask men applying for teaching elementary school if they've considered being a male elementary teacher

Why should I?

Because the children's parents will think they're chimos?

I assume men applying to teach school are aware of their maleness (men's peckers don't seem to slip their mind much) as much as women applying to be doctors are aware

Men don't seem to forget they have a penis for a second, or that I have boobs, maybe that's the problem

If as you argue, a group is a minority (and women are a minority?) do you think they need much reminding?

Right I totally forget that I don't belong in a field because I'm a woman till I'm asked about it

Everyone's argument is that this question somehow matters to ask the "disadvantaged" class if they've considered their "disadvantage."
is prejudice

Ask the person how they deal with diversity and what adversity they've faced

If they're a black female midget, I bet they'll have a good answer, and you won't have to make it obvious you're taking their black female midget status into account

Like I said, right or wrong, you have to at least sound like you're not a bigot anymore.
 
Jesus tap dancing christ


I skipped about half of this because I couldn't take it anymore.

My thoughts:
The question wasn't sexist. Just implying that women's experiences in medicine are different than men's experiences isn't sexist - it's being a realist. I say this because, surprise suprise, female physicians have to deal with sexism that male physicians just don't. Trying to get a feel for if an applicant is aware of that and how they plan on dealing with it is very reasonable IMO.

Also the EEOC wouldn't give a damn about this. I don't even think there is a box to check for this on their forms. Like what is your complaint? Someone asked a question that made me have a feel? Unless you believe you weren't accepted because of it, and you could prove that (as in its more likely true than not) they aren't going to do anything about it. I doubt it would make it past the first screen.
 
I think OP is just too sensitive. The interviewer wanted to see how you would respond. I had friends who were asked a lot worse questions at their interviews. For instance, at one of my friend's interviews, the interviewer asked what his last name means. After he explained the Italian to English translation of his last name, the interviewer replied," I thought it means small penis". While at another friend's interview, the adcom asked him about his views on religion. After my friend responded; the guy bluntly replied " I f@cking hate religion and you are my first open-minded candidate of the day".
 
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Sometimes we ask questions that merely let us know what you're like as a person.

If would be perfectly OK to ask people for a teaching position if they personally could observe a difference in the way men and women etach. Is there a difference? If so, what is it? And if not, fine. I get plenty of people telling me that they never saw any difference between DOs and MDs in how they practice Medicine.

Crayola227 said:
The discrimination is revealed in the question by the questioner.

Asking a question in an interview implicitly suggests that is being used to determine your qualifications for the position.

I wouldn't ask men applying for teaching elementary school if they've considered being a male elementary teacher

Why should I?

Because the children's parents will think they're chimos?

I assume men applying to teach school are aware of their maleness (men's peckers don't seem to slip their mind much) as much as women applying to be doctors are aware

Men don't seem to forget they have a penis for a second, or that I have boobs, maybe that's the problem

If as you argue, a group is a minority (and women are a minority?) do you think they need much reminding?

Right I totally forget that I don't belong in a field because I'm a woman till I'm asked about it

Everyone's argument is that this question somehow matters to ask the "disadvantaged" class if they've considered their "disadvantage."
is prejudice

Ask the person how they deal with diversity and what adversity they've faced

If they're a black female midget, I bet they'll have a good answer, and you won't have to make it obvious you're taking their black female midget status into account

Like I said, right or wrong, you have to at least sound like you're not a bigot anymore.
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Oh no, thread revival!

TLDR: this thread has been an important example of how "thin skinned" attitudes are misaligned with a physician's responsibilities. I fear that some of the current/future crop of med school applicants who have bought into the "political correctness" movement will negatively affect the practice of medicine, communication in the clinical setting, patient care, and health outcomes going forward for the reasons below:

I've been thinking a lot lately about how the influence of political correctness (or "respect" as some would put it) that seems to be permeating our undergraduate campuses will affect the future and current med school applicant pool, and what implications this will have for the future practice of medicine, communication in the clinical/hospital setting, and ultimately patient care and health outcomes. I stumbled upon this thread and have read ALL 13 pages. While my goal is not to provide more commentary specifically on content of the initial post (which has been beaten to death with fervent discussion), I'd like to note and respond to some sentiments and themes that have come as a result which I believe relate to the overarching issue of political correctness and have implications for the future practice of medicine and patient care.

bc65 said:
From my point of view, and I suspect from the point of view of most schools and businesses, if you can't have a pleasant conversation with an interviewer, who is presumable well-intentioned and vetted by the school, without having to file a complaint about it, then you're probably not going to be able to walk into an exam room and relate well to patients either. Sure, there are certainly questions that cross the line, but I have yet to see one that really irks me, despite having read many of these "is this question legal" posts
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bc65 said:
As a physician, you will have to walk into a room, greet a patient, and establish a relationship within a minute or so, because a minute later you might be injecting them, cutting them, undressing them, or groping up inside them. Some of these patients might be drunk, high, rude, racist, sexist, or criminals, but you'll still have to take care of them. So, if a well meaning interview question throws you into a tizzy, some of us might conclude that you may not have the temperament to be a physician
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I agree with the above posts by @bc65 . Based on my patient care experience, being "thin skinned" around patients is unprofessional and counterproductive to patient care. If you are offended by a patient, that is your opinion which you are entitled to, but establishing a rapport and putting the needs of the patient in the forefront of your mind and consciousness needs to be paramount to being consumed with thoughts of offense, self-pity, or selfishness. If undergraduate students/med school applicants continue to be taught and believe that they are entitled to a "safe space" free from "microaggressions", etc., then I fear that those who apply to medical school who buy into this mindset will not be able to function in the clinical environment. This will be to the detriment of the future of the profession, and a shift from putting the needs of the patient first to putting the needs of the student first is bad for patients and likely back for health outcomes.

Goro said:
I'm appalled that you two are screaming sexism where none exits. You wouldn't know sexism if it punched you in the nose. What I see is the now classic Millennial thin skin on parade here. I have students who are like this and I swear, light passes right through them.
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Goro said:
So develop a thicker skin or preceptors, residency directors and attendings will eat you alive
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Gastrapathy said:
I feel bad for the future dean, program director and partners who will have to deal with your trumped up outrage over and over again. You are going to wear them out
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I agree with the posts by @Goro and @Gastrapathy above - in addition to the harm that having "thin skin" may create in a clinical environment, it may also foster an environment where teachers are afraid to teach, and students aren't 100% focused on learning. Medical school is hard. Distractions are counterproductive. If a obsession with political correctness (or respect/safe space/microaggressions/whatever) is present in our future medical students, it will take time, energy and effort away from their self-directed learning. It may also negatively impact attending faculty's willingness to go the "extra mile" for their students if those same (future) students create an oppressive environment of fear for their teachers. If the political correctness movement transitions to medical school, the students who follow it and try to ensure that no active, passive, intended, or non-intended oppression happens to them may very well be acting in an oppressive manner toward those who want nothing more than to teach them and nurture them on their way to becoming physicians.

Stagg737 said:
The goal in medicine is to say exactly what you mean in the most simple and concise way possible. Eloquence is unnecessary, and and often frowned upon (especially when you're talking to people that have been on 12+ hour shifts). If you speak to an attending or resident using the same structure you use on here, you'll likely get torn apart.
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Stagg737 said:
I'd also be interested to know how they would feel about asking a candidate how they would deal with discrimination. A question like: "Sometimes women in medicine face discrimination in the workplace from patients or even co-workers just because of their sex. How would you address a situation in which a patient was making sexist remarks or acting sexist toward you? What would you do if it was a coworker?" I'm curious because while it does touch on the whole sex/gender issue (which is obviously still relevant in medicine since some female docs are mistaken for nurses), the point of the question is to gauge professionalism.
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Ad2b said:
Social reform, to me, comes from being an example to the rest of the world, and continuing to push forward while not blaming, or complaining. It doesn't come from questioning minor things, or running to HR or to the EEOC. It doesn't come from beating the fist on the counter and demanding because EVERYONE shuts down.
IF something is bad enough (rape, injury, blah blah blah) then yes, obviously HR and the EEOC are the appropriate avenues. In this particular case, the one that started this entire thread, it was none of that.
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I agree with the above posts by @Stagg737 - communicating well with your team and especially with patients is vital for a physician, and these are skills that candidates need to develop during medical school. If the OP and/or others are so consumed with the possibility of offense or unfairness from such a sterile environment (interview), I would be concerned to place the OP (and the concerned others) in a clinical environment as a medical student because (and I'd like to reiterate) such thoughts and ideals may take the focus away from patient care and put the focus on "medical student care", which is important but is not paramount to patient care in my opinion.
Also, to add on to what @Ad2b said in the quote above, it is my opinion that spending so much time and energy on minor issues that an individual may find personally offensive detracts from fixing significant issues that still exist in our society under the umbrella of social reform.



twistedroses said:
Frankly, I'm a bit scared to be hired by someone like you one day. Let the hate comments commence again.
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Axes said:
People "get offended" as a result of emphasis of one of their disadvantaged identities. So, while not "taking offense"-- that is, not responding to an action or comment or whatever that capitalizes on one's disadvantaged identity-- is often seen as personal strength, it also perpetuates the oppression of that disadvantaged identity. It's not about going into a tizzy, it's about recognizing oppressive social structures
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carpediem22 said:
Honestly my response is not as much directed towards OPs situation and more directed towards the "learn to deal with offensive remarks" tone of the replies on this thread.
And with that, I'm out. Really think this thread needs to get shut down
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Regarding the above posts by @twistedroses @Axes @carpediem22 , and others in this thread: I could have quoted many more of your posts, but for brevity I'll only state and comment on the above.

First, please understand that my comments (and I would venture the comments of others here) do not originate from hate, but rather from real concern about how you, my future colleages, will approach patients and the "un-sterile" clinical or hospital environment. I would like to see you succeed in your goals of becoming a physician, and I honestly believe that your attitudes surrounding this issue will be counterproductive to your success going forward. The good news is that attitudes can change, but it may be that these issues and feelings define you to a degree which would make change of opinion hard, but a choice that you could nonetheless make.

I'd like to humbly suggest the following: In your consideration of future events or actions that you deem harmful to you in any way (offensive, racist, sexist, etc etc), before formulating your plan for action for how to respond, take a moment and step into the shoes of the person or group who you feel is offending you before "taking offense". While I appreciate @Axes detailed and well written account above, think for a moment about who is perpetuating the oppression of that disadvantaged identity. Maybe the oppressive structure is the same structure that is telling you that you need to be offended. As you note, you can choose to not to "take offense" even if you are offended. Maybe hypersensitivity and political correctness will create a safe utopian society for all, or, maybe hypersensitivity and political correctness will result in a society that is safe for no one to express ideas that will move society, culture, and (yes) science and medicine forward. I'm more scared of the latter than I am confident of the former.

Finally, @carpediem22 I'm glad this thread was not shut down because the opportunity to read everyone's comments and posts helped me formulate (as much as I could online) and idea of where you are coming from as I endeavored to place myself in your shoes to better understand your point of view. The ability to have this discussion with varied opinions is something that is important to me, which is exactly why I am fearful of political correctness and the potential censorship it can result in.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have more time here's some reading for y'all, somewhat related:

(previously posted) http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/thats-not-funny/399335/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...or-dismissal-according-to-some-yale-students/
and
https://www.thefire.org/yale-students-demand-resignations-from-faculty-members-over-halloween-email/
and
http://hlrecord.org/2015/11/fascism-at-yale/

EDIT: and this one too:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/opinion/black-tape-at-harvard-law.html?_r=0
 
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Isn't the "political correctness movement" distinct from the "outrage over microaggressions" phenomenon? The former merely dictates how we should treat people: you can strive to be politically correct without becoming irate when a patient does not reciprocate. It is easy to see how illness and the unpleasantness of medical treatment can wear a person down.
 
Doug Underhill said:
Isn't the "political correctness movement" distinct from the "outrage over microaggressions" phenomenon? The former merely dictates how we should treat people: you can strive to be politically correct without becoming irate when a patient does not reciprocate. It is easy to see how illness and the unpleasantness of medical treatment can wear a person down.
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Yea you're probably right, I'm not a part of either movement so I will defer to others who have a more intricate understanding. I still maintain that both issues/stances may be counterproductive in the clinical environment and may have a negative impact on patient care (these are things I am worried about/my opinion, not absolute truths, to be clear)...

And then there is this:
http://uwm.edu/inclusiveexcellence/just-words/
lol "PC" IS a microaggression
 
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Doug Underhill said:
Isn't the "political correctness movement" distinct from the "outrage over microaggressions" phenomenon? The former merely dictates how we should treat people: you can strive to be politically correct without becoming irate when a patient does not reciprocate. It is easy to see how illness and the unpleasantness of medical treatment can wear a person down.
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I think they're the same, the PC movement is really a "no tolerance" initiative, demanding we remove people for any wrong move regardless of their intentions. See: demanded resignation of claremont mckenna dean a little ways back, for poor phrasing that referred to minority students as not fitting the typical school mold, but in an email that was pledging to give more support to minorities. I don't think anyone in their right mind could look at what happened and think the dean was actually a racist, but that doesn't matter. And people like to write this off as a very vocal but very small minority...still seems concerning when they're loud enough to cost people their jobs.
 
Oh goodie, as if the multiple affirmative action threads weren't enough.
 
efle said:
I think they're the same, the PC movement is really a "no tolerance" initiative, demanding we remove people for any wrong move regardless of their intentions. See: demanded resignation of claremont mckenna dean a little ways back, for poor phrasing that referred to minority students as not fitting the typical school mold, but in an email that was pledging to give more support to minorities. I don't think anyone in their right mind could look at what happened and think the dean was actually a racist, but that doesn't matter. And people like to write this off as a very vocal but very small minority...still seems concerning when they're loud enough to cost people their jobs.
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Semantics >>>>>>> the main point
 
efle said:
I think they're the same, the PC movement is really a "no tolerance" initiative, demanding we remove people for any wrong move regardless of their intentions. See: demanded resignation of claremont mckenna dean a little ways back, for poor phrasing that referred to minority students as not fitting the typical school mold, but in an email that was pledging to give more support to minorities
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Geez thats crazy (whoops, microaggression)... I guess I'd agree that the overarching idea of the PC movement (but PC would not be used, rather would say "treating people with respect" movement) is in a way a no-tolerance initiative, and outrage over microaggresions is a component of that because there's no tolerance for microaggressions. Maybe @Doug Underhill has a different opinion, idk...

efle said:
I don't think anyone in their right mind could look at what happened and think the dean was actually a racist, but that doesn't matter
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While I would not myself be of the opinion that the dean was racist, I don't know what others feel or what their opinions or perceptions are of that dean, and while I feel they are entitled to their opinion (they are offended), it was their choice to act on their opinion (take offense) which I disagree with. I would assume that they took offense because they did not take a moment to put themselves in the dean's shoes and realize that they did not need to act as they did in response to something that initially offended them.

I'd like to use this opportunity to talk for a second about racism/sexism/etc and perception (stepping on soapbox):
For example, if someone thinks that I am a racist, I understand that, I am a racist...to them. It is their opinion that they are entitled to, and I do not believe opinions are right or wrong but are simply opinions. Just because I don't think I am a racist does not mean I am not a racist. If I found that someone considered something I did was racist/sexist/etc, instead of denying it, I would look at it as an opportunity to better understand their frame of reference and what I did or said which caused them to have that opinion. I can (hopefully) explain to them my intentions, but while doing so I have to remember that their opinion can't be wrong but just is, and that hopefully through communication that opinion might change (and my opinion of them might change as a result as well). Communication in addition to recognizing implicit and explicit biases is the best way to "handle" this type of situation.

Additionally, I think if we jump too quickly to deny what others say about us it takes away the opportunity to better understand and connect with whoever we are working with. Similarity, if others (like those in the PC or "treating people with respect" movement) jump so quickly to take actions on their opinions it ALSO takes away the opportunity for discussion and connection. Because the PC movement has resulted in serious censorship, it is difficult for these discussions to take place. Additionally, I feel the PC movement has normalized and justified taking actions on opinions of those in the movement similar to what happened to the dean, and I find this disappointing and do not agree with the actions but respect the opinions. (stepping off soapbox)
 
My fault for not reading the original post before assuming they were asking if "planning on having kids" or "settling down and having a family as a female physician" question. Saw the original post and was like " lawl nevermind"
 
mcworbust said:
Just because I don't think I am a racist does not mean I am not a racist
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Ah but here people including myself will disagree. If I don't care at all about my employee's race, reject a black job applicant, and they then accuse me of racism, I can say that I am not actually racist and have it be objectively true.

That is, what they infer or perceive can be wrong. They can think it was a racist act. But the act itself being racist is dependent on the intent of the agent, and for that I have first-person authority and cannot be wrong.
 
You're referring to something like the hammer/gun tasks right? I can see that playing a role in a snap decision where a cop has to decide if someone is pulling a gun vs cell phone, etc. Choosing which job applicant to hire? Not so much.

Alternatively put, say the decision was actually made race-blind, but the applicant didn't know it was, and accuses me of racism. Is it possible for him to be right? Of course not, because it is racist only when the agent had racist intent (impossible here), never because of how it was perceived to others.
 
I mean I'd concede it's possible people have subconscious racism in slower decisions, though I'd be skeptical it would surface as a big effect on any slowly reasoned thought process. Same with sexism. But my issue was only in clarifying that racism is defined by intent rather than perception, which is why it makes no sense to say "racist!" in response to poorly worded but supportive communications. I can't see how anyone would be convinced of racist intent in that case.
 
efle said:
Ah but here people including myself will disagree. If I don't care at all about my employee's race, reject a black job applicant, and they then accuse me of racism, I can say that I am not actually racist and have it be objectively true.

That is, what they infer or perceive can be wrong. They can think it was a racist act. But the act itself being racist is dependent on the intent of the agent, and for that I have first-person authority and cannot be wrong.
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First person authority is new to me, thanks for sharing that construct as it is something I had not heard of before and I will be looking into that further, currently trying to understand what I've found so far, very interesting! (ie http://www.siue.edu/~wlarkin/research/ipa02.html)

I appreciate your disagreement and have learned something from it, yay free speech!

efle said:
But my issue was only in clarifying that racism is defined by intent rather than perception, which is why it makes no sense to say "racist!" in response to poorly worded but supportive communications. I can't see how anyone would be convinced of racist intent in that case
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I myself am not convinced, and taking the action to say "racist!" about that case is also something that makes no sense to me, but i can't know introspective judgements of everyone so for others their first person authority may say that their thoughts are qualitatively more justified than someone else's... and idk where that leaves me lol

Glazedonutlove said:
well it depends on several factors including how tired you might be when choosing employees and how aware people are about their own bias. try taking the IAT, you might be surprised
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I agree, and think implicit bias is something that we all need to understand better in order to better relate to our environment and understand our own perspectives on various issues. Good to know for everyone...

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html
 
mcworbust said:
If the OP and/or others are so consumed with the possibility of offense or unfairness from such a sterile environment (interview), I would be concerned to place the OP (and the concerned others) in a clinical environment as a medical student because (and I'd like to reiterate) such thoughts and ideals may take the focus away from patient care and put the focus on "medical student care", which is important but is not paramount to patient care in my opinion.
Also, to add on to what @Ad2b said in the quote above, it is my opinion that spending so much time and energy on minor issues that an individual may find personally offensive detracts from fixing significant issues that still exist in our society under the umbrella of social reform.
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mcworbust said:
First, please understand that my comments (and I would venture the comments of others here) do not originate from hate, but rather from real concern about how you, my future colleages, will approach patients and the "un-sterile" clinical or hospital environment. I would like to see you succeed in your goals of becoming a physician, and I honestly believe that your attitudes surrounding this issue will be counterproductive to your success going forward. The good news is that attitudes can change, but it may be that these issues and feelings define you to a degree which would make change of opinion hard, but a choice that you could nonetheless make.
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mcworbust said:
I'd like to humbly suggest the following: In your consideration of future events or actions that you deem harmful to you in any way (offensive, racist, sexist, etc etc), before formulating your plan for action for how to respond, take a moment and step into the shoes of the person or group who you feel is offending you before "taking offense". While I appreciate @Axes detailed and well written account above, think for a moment about who is perpetuating the oppression of that disadvantaged identity. Maybe the oppressive structure is the same structure that is telling you that you need to be offended. As you note, you can choose to not to "take offense" even if you are offended. Maybe hypersensitivity and political correctness will create a safe utopian society for all, or, maybe hypersensitivity and political correctness will result in a society that is safe for no one to express ideas that will move society, culture, and (yes) science and medicine forward. I'm more scared of the latter than I am confident of the former.
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You're right. Wasting time and energy on any instance of microaggression is counterproductive to any success I will have in life and as a future physician. I'd just like to note that I was not really angered/consumed with unfairness by the interviewer's questions; I simply asked whether this was an appropriate question to ask or not in a medical school interview. The hypersensitive and inflammatory remarks were made mostly towards another SDN user, which I have long since realized was wrong and apologized for.

Since this thread was necrobumped, I'd like to update that I was accepted to this school and will be matriculating in the Fall. I thank you all for your comments and will take these advice (and the advice of many others on this thread) to heart as a medical student and future physician.
 
twistedroses said:
You're right. Wasting time and energy on any instance of microaggression is counterproductive to any success I will have in life and as a future physician. I'd just like to note that I was not really angered/consumed with unfairness by the interviewer's questions; I simply asked whether this was an appropriate question to ask or not in a medical school interview. The hypersensitive and inflammatory remarks were made mostly towards another SDN user, which I have long since realized was wrong and apologized for.

Since this thread was necrobumped, I'd like to update that I was accepted to this school and will be matriculating in the Fall. I thank you all for your comments and will take these advice (and the advice of many others on this thread) to heart as a medical student and future physician.
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And what happened then? Well, in Sdnville they say
That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
And now that his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
With a smile to his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet
Cheerily blowing "Who! Who! Acceptance" on his trumpet.
Welcome Christmas. Bring your cheer,
Cheer to all Whos, far and near.
Welcome Christmas while we stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand.

http://49.media.tumblr.com/78abc953bf0c5c5984c4409bce036137/tumblr_mxzfq94czm1s2wio8o2_500.gif

Your post kind of reminds me of the ending of the Grinch, can we all hold hands now?
 
twistedroses said:
You're right. Wasting time and energy on any instance of microaggression is counterproductive to any success I will have in life and as a future physician. I'd just like to note that I was not really angered/consumed with unfairness by the interviewer's questions; I simply asked whether this was an appropriate question to ask or not in a medical school interview. The hypersensitive and inflammatory remarks were made mostly towards another SDN user, which I have long since realized was wrong and apologized for.

Since this thread was necrobumped, I'd like to update that I was accepted to this school and will be matriculating in the Fall. I thank you all for your comments and will take these advice (and the advice of many others on this thread) to heart as a medical student and future physician.
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Congrats on your acceptance!!!

Also, my apologies for mis-characterizing you in my post, my goal was more to relate the discussion that had occurred to my concerns about the effect of the PC movement etc on future students, medicine, and patient care in general. Instead of saying "if OP and concerned others" I should have said something like "students who are part of the PC movement" because my comments were meant to be more broad based and not specific to you, so again, my bad!

I've learned a lot from participating (albeit a few months late) in this discussion, and am happy to hear it has been productive for you as well. Good luck going forward!
 
twistedroses said:
I was just asked by an interviewer whether I have considered what it would be like to be a physician as a female. The follow up question - have I ever shadowed a female physician before? I thought it was illegal to ask such questions during interview.

I normally wouldn't think too much of it, but the entire interview was unpleasant and it seemed like more of an attack than well intentions.

Would it be appropriate to notify the admissions office? Or should I just let it go?
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I actually don't think its that much of an unfair question. I mean, I got a question like, "name three most influential women in your life that led you to medicine" and I just talked about a few mentors who worked for west coast adcoms, local clinics and AACOM etc whom I've networked with over the years. I think they just want to make sure you understood the nuances of being a female physician and some difficulties they still are yet to face in certain GME paths with disproportionate gender spreads.
 
mcworbust said:
Yea you're probably right, I'm not a part of either movement so I will defer to others who have a more intricate understanding. I still maintain that both issues/stances may be counterproductive in the clinical environment and may have a negative impact on patient care (these are things I am worried about/my opinion, not absolute truths, to be clear)...

And then there is this:
http://www.infowars.com/university-...t-is-a-politically-incorrect-microaggression/
Wtf.
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Ok I just noticed you cited MFing Alex Jones...like, really bro?
 
twistedroses said:
You're right. Wasting time and energy on any instance of microaggression is counterproductive to any success I will have in life and as a future physician. I'd just like to note that I was not really angered/consumed with unfairness by the interviewer's questions; I simply asked whether this was an appropriate question to ask or not in a medical school interview. The hypersensitive and inflammatory remarks were made mostly towards another SDN user, which I have long since realized was wrong and apologized for.

Since this thread was necrobumped, I'd like to update that I was accepted to this school and will be matriculating in the Fall. I thank you all for your comments and will take these advice (and the advice of many others on this thread) to heart as a medical student and future physician.
Click to expand...

Congrats! Now the only thing left to do is ask what the real meaning behind the question was and let us know 😉
 
ZedsDed said:
Ok I just noticed you cited MFing Alex Jones...like, really bro?
Click to expand...
Oh snap looks like that guy is crazy conspiracy theorist, my bad lol... should have just cited the actual UW-Milwaukee website where they said "Politically Correct (PC) has been added as a dismissive term".

Thought it was funny that we were trying to determine if Political Correctness and Microaggression were seperate phenomenon (quote below), while others (at UW-Milwaukee) had posited that political correctness is a microaggression lol...
http://uwm.edu/inclusiveexcellence/just-words/
Doug Underhill said:
Isn't the "political correctness movement" distinct from the "outrage over microaggressions" phenomenon? The former merely dictates how we should treat people: you can strive to be politically correct without becoming irate when a patient does not reciprocate. It is easy to see how illness and the unpleasantness of medical treatment can wear a person down.
Click to expand...

Needless to say I've changed the link to avoid Alex Jones and instead provide the actual info, thanks for the heads up haha
 
musicalfeet said:
My fault for not reading the original post before assuming they were asking if "planning on having kids" or "settling down and having a family as a female physician" question. Saw the original post and was like " lawl nevermind"
Click to expand...

I'm a female in my 20s and I had an interviewer ask me similar questions this cycle. He wanted to know if I planned on getting married and how old I'd want to be when having kids - and whether the timeline for med school would be OK for me with my "personal" plans. I was pretty sure it was illegal, and I thought it was weird considering I didn't bring up anything about family or relationships, I'm not married and didn't mention wanting to get married or have kids anywhere in my app, etc. Gave me a weird vibe, but oh well!
 
Well to answer the OP, no I don't think it's illegal or discriminatory. I had a panel interview with 2 female physicians and 1 male student and they asked me a similar question and we ended up talking about their experiences going through school as married women, one which had a child while in medical school, and about the school's support systems for them, their spouses etc.
 
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