Political questions during interview?

[TwistedTea]

TLDR version and to keep it on topic I would just say something like “I do my best to look at the facts to make informed voting decisions” smile and leave it at that. If they push harder just don’t rank them.
If they ask loaded questions like the OP got I would (even if I agreed with the stance) go somewhere else. Asking about police brutality and BLM is stuff that should not be brought up in interviews and it’s a simple push to see if you are a fit for their program. I lean left and I’m pretty sure I would be disappointed if I was asked those questions in a format that assumes the BLM movement and police brutality is a one sided fact instead of a multifaceted issue as it is.

glad you are not going to that crap hole the interviewer and Admin are likely not the type you want dictating the next few years of life.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Your patients are gonna come from diverse backgrounds so you should be able to leave your personal beliefs at home and do your job regardless of how you feel about their politics, gender identity etc. which is what I think the interviewer is looking to test when asking such a question.

If they wanted to test this they would have worded the question differently. “what kind of issues affect communities today” rather than “how would you support” a certain movement. The first assumes you have one of potentially many opinions. The second assumes there is only one correct opinion to have.
If you want to care for patients with diverse backgrounds, the latter assumption is the worse one for an interviewer to look for. You never want ideological purity of any kind.

 

[babadonka]

lol this is not a controversial opinion in medicine anymore

I mean, considering people's responses to me on this thread... I wouldn't be so sure lmao. I'm damned whatever I say and whatever I don't say here.

Edited to say this is the last I intend to comment on anything lmao. I said it before but I am not interested in arguing with anyone on my stance on anything. I just wanted OP to know I also got asked mildly political questions during interviews.

 

[deleted889094]

I mean, considering people's responses to me on this thread... I wouldn't be so sure lmao. I'm damned whatever I say and whatever I don't say here.

Edited to say this is the last I intend to comment on anything lmao. I said it before but I am not interested in arguing with anyone on my stance on anything. I just wanted OP to know I also got asked mildly political questions during interviews.

I think the way you presented it was the main thing. But it's definitely not controversial. The thing I disagreed with was your stance on punishing people who don't wear masks but not applying the same principal to other issues.

 

[FunkyFrog994]

If they wanted to test this they would have worded the question differently. “what kind of issues affect communities today” rather than “how would you support” a certain movement. The first assumes you have one of potentially many opinions. The second assumes there is only one correct opinion to have.
If you want to care for patients with diverse backgrounds, the latter assumption is the worse one for an interviewer to look for. You never want ideological purity of any kind.

I definitely understand that point of view, but I feel like If I were the one asking that question I'd want to see if a "conservative" student could at the very least demonstrate some empathy for a group that feels like they are being targeted, regardless of how they feel about BLM. In terms of what they plan to do to support the movement they could literally just say I plan to continue treating everyone I encounter on campus and in our community with the same level of respect I expect to be shown by others and call out any acts of injustice that occur in my presence. I don't think they necessarily have to commit to marching through the streets. On the other hand if it's a "liberal" student I'd want to see if they could approach the issue in a rational manner and not come off as someone who's hanging out with Antifa on the weekends. If anything I'd almost think the student who supports BLM might actually reveal more than they should because they feel the interviewer is in agreement with them. If you don't support BLM all you have to do is just stay calm and give a pretty generic answer. At the same time I doubt anyone conducting an interview is going to ask a student how they plan to support Qanon so maybe it isn't appropriate, however I think medical students should be able to have a conversation about a polarizing topic without getting triggered. I actually think it would be a good idea to ask highly controversial questions just to weed out people that might not have the temperament to be physicians, such as medical students calling for all of their peers to take oaths supporting BLM or be removed from medical school. I personally question these students ability to treat half our population fairly and wonder if maybe they themselves have no place in medicine. I suppose thats just my opinion, but ultimately I don't have much of a problem with the question at the end of the day.

 

[LittleBrother]

I definitely understand that point of view, but I feel like If I were the one asking that question I'd want to see if a "conservative" student could at the very least demonstrate some empathy for a group that feels like they are being targeted, regardless of how they feel about BLM. In terms of what they plan to do to support the movement they could literally just say I plan to continue treating everyone I encounter on campus and in our community with the same level of respect I expect to be shown by others and call out any acts of injustice that occur in my presence. I don't think they necessarily have to commit to marching through the streets. On the other hand if it's a "liberal" student I'd want to see if they could approach the issue in a rational manner and not come off as someone who's hanging out with Antifa on the weekends. If anything I'd almost think the student who supports BLM might actually reveal more than they should because they feel the interviewer is in agreement with them. If you don't support BLM all you have to do is just stay calm and give a pretty generic answer. At the same time I doubt anyone conducting an interview is going to ask a student how they plan to support Qanon so maybe it isn't appropriate, however I think medical students should be able to have a conversation about a polarizing topic without getting triggered. I actually think it would be a good idea to ask highly controversial questions just to weed out people that might not have the temperament to be physicians, such as medical students calling for all of their peers to take oaths supporting BLM or be removed from medical school. I personally question these students ability to treat half our population and wonder if maybe they themselves have no place in medicine. I suppose thats just my opinion, but ultimately I don't have much of a problem with the question at the end of the day.

Yeah I agree with what you are saying but you get the answers for the questions you ask. You would get better answers for "how do you feel about X" than you will "how would you support BLM." The questions OP mentioned were obviously leading. I think there is plenty of value in the things you identify, but the questions as-stated don't elicit any of that valuable information.

The other thing is that in these polarized times interviewers should steer away from these subjects. I've seen Med schools highlight their social justice stuff on the front page of their websites. They hardly seem unbiased or entertaining of other narratives.

Its not that how applicants approach these topics can't be invaluable to understanding them, its that med school adcoms don't have the requisite trust to ellicit honest answers outside of the most dogmatic activist.