Unethical Pre-Med Behavior

[unicornshadow888]

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So, I was reading that article about how 10 Harvard students were revoked of their admission because of the stupid things that they posted on a Facebook group chat. This got me thinking about how med school admissions officers view your social media (which I already presumed that they search for you anyway). I came up on an article from AAMC explaining how your social media does impact your chance of being admitted, and it included an interview with an admissions officer who said that if your profile picture includes you drinking or if it's with a confederate flag, they'll likely pass you over because it shows that you have poor judgement. In the latter case, they said that it shows that you're not sensitive to the struggles of African-Americans who will be your patients if you live in the US. Either way, I don't understand how people don't know that nothing is private on the Internet. There are ways that admissions people can find who you are and learn every detail about you. It's within their right. They aren't obligated to admit anyone.
Then, I discovered another issue that could easily hurt your chances of getting into med school: hyper-competitiveness. I came across another article where a pre-med had the audacity to hack into a professor's email and tell the one student that had top grades that the exam was cancelled and that they didn't have to go to class, all in the name of getting THEMSELVES to the top. Others included bullying, cheating, and giving inaccurate information on forums like this one just to eliminate competition. I'm sorry, but seriously? Some healthy competition is good, but that is just plain ridiculous. It's not ethical, and it's downright disgusting behavior. Similarly to those kids at Harvard, doctors are supposed to represent a certain ethical standard. If you resort to things like this, then you shouldn't be a doctor, period. Here's the article if you want to read more: Kaplan Test Prep Online Pressroom » Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Aspiring Doctors Lament the Hypercompetitive Pre-Med Academic Culture

 

[DrHart]

As to the Harvard students, I say good riddance. One bias I'll admit to having is that I see some of the private school "elites" as hoop jumpers that can play school really well but lack much of the common sense needed to be sensitive to cultural and societal issues... they can also be a real drag to talk to. (Not trying to hate on anyone here who goes to HYP etc., just my life-long public school/anti-elitist bias)

As to the gunner story... I used to look at these stories and think that they were clickbait with no real meat to the bones (an isolated incident). And to some degree, these stories can get so weird and fascinating that it really is good clickbait. But after college, I can say I have definitely seen some of the truly disgusting **** that goes on. In my opinion, I think it boils down to a mix of poor parenting, an increasing difficulty of getting into medical school, and how enamored society is with prestige (and how we value a person's career by how much money they make).

 

[cactusman]

Hacking into your professor's email and sending out false information to another student isn't hyper-competitiveness, that's a severe form of academic dishonesty.

 

[3DVanGogh]

Yeah, stories like this are depressing. Does this kind of behavior persist very often into med-school? If so, are there some schools that have more of a reputation for cooperation vs ... I guess you'd call this "competitiveness"? Because in talking to other premeds I have gotten the impression that some schools are better about this sort of thing than others, and I would like to avoid that kind of learning environment.

 

[Neuro25_]

Thank you for this post.

I commend Harvard for revoking admissions acceptances to these students. So many students feel like 'they made it' once they are accepted but medical schools do not feel that way. You have to continue to prove yourself throughout medical school not only academically but ethically to indicate that you will the type of physician that attempts to eliminate bias while offering health care. No school wants to be affiliated with the students who are racist, predjudiced, sexist not give off the impression that these students will be 'great doctors' otherwise because of good grades in undergrad. It's just not true.

Good riddance!

 

[cactusman]

Yeah, stories like this are depressing. Does this kind of behavior persist very often into med-school? If so, are there some schools that have more of a reputation for cooperation vs ... I guess you'd call this "competitiveness"? Because in talking to other premeds I have gotten the impression that some schools are better about this sort of thing than others, and I would like to avoid that kind of learning environment.

A lot of people have suggested that pass/fail med schools with no internal ranking are more collaborative. I think Stanford U-AL, and a couple others are p/f unranked for all four years, but most have tiered clinical grades and they often hold very tightly onto information about whether they have an internal ranking system (OTOH, P/F with internal ranking undisclosed is probably also less competitive).

 

[3DVanGogh]

Thanks for the info. I guess it's just something you have to ask about at interviews (delicately, of course).

 

[unicornshadow888]

Yeah, stories like this are depressing. Does this kind of behavior persist very often into med-school? If so, are there some schools that have more of a reputation for cooperation vs ... I guess you'd call this "competitiveness"? Because in talking to other premeds I have gotten the impression that some schools are better about this sort of thing than others, and I would like to avoid that kind of learning environment.

Same!

 

[unicornshadow888]

Thanks for the info. I guess it's just something you have to ask about at interviews (delicately, of course).

I would go into the admissions process assuming that all admissions counselors look through your social media.

 

[3DVanGogh]

I would go into the admissions process assuming that all admissions counselors look through your social media.

Actually I mean asking about the class culture. Not really worried about social media: I'm much too boring of a person for that to be an issue. 😉

 

[unicornshadow888]

Actually I mean asking about the class culture. Not really worried about social media: I'm much too boring of a person for that to be an issue. 😉

Haha! I get you now. I wouldn't ask about that in an interview per se (unless you've already submitted apps). That's where your research comes in. Find out as much as you can about schools before you apply.

 

[longhaul3]

Thank you for this post.

I commend Harvard for revoking admissions acceptances to these students. So many students feel like 'they made it' once they are accepted but medical schools do not feel that way. You have to continue to prove yourself throughout medical school not only academically but ethically to indicate that you will the type of physician that attempts to eliminate bias while offering health care. No school wants to be affiliated with the students who are racist, predjudiced, sexist not give off the impression that these students will be 'great doctors' otherwise because of good grades in undergrad. It's just not true.

Good riddance!

FYI these were HS students admitted to Harvard College. I agree with what you say about med schools holding their students to pretty high standards—I think it's more significant that this happened at the undergrad level, where there's no concern over protecting a specific profession and a tendency to say "kids will be kids."

 

[Oh_Gee]

Is hiding your social media necessary?
Has social media ever doomed a strong applicant in your experiences?
How deep do medical schools search an applicant personally?
Is this true about premed forums?

Assume all social media may be searched and seen by Adcoms so always be professional. One of the admission directors at a particular school is doing her doctorate in social media and medical student selection. Some medical schools have added an internet background search step usually post-interview, per-selection as due diligence to find any obvious issue. With automation and some software this is easy to do

This is a much larger issue for medical residents in applicant selection with many medical specialty academies and GME (residency) programs issue guidelines and, in some cases, strict agreements on social media use while in a program. The reason for this has been patients and families have started to look up doctors who are treating them. A case then was a 3rd year peds residents was treating a young girl and the next day the parents came in screaming to take that doctor away from my daughter or I will sue. Turned out the parents were freaked about a photo from a drunken frat party taken some 10 years earlier was posted on a social media site with this doctor tagged. (I will find the original case report and add it).

In the meanwhile there have been a slew of studies done on this to the point that AAMC has guidelines for applicants (first in list)
Aspiring Docs
The Impact of Social Media on Medical Professionalism: A Systematic Qualitative Review of Challenges and Opportunities
Influence of social networking websites on medical school and residency selection process. - PubMed - NCBI
Med school applicants might want to rethink that last tweet - amednews.com
Medscape: Medscape Access
Medical students’ and residents’ use of online social networking tools: Implications for teaching professionalism in medical education | Ferdig | First Monday
http://jepm.seahq.net/VolXVI_IssueV_McHugh.pdf

you can get a Ph. D in social media and medical student selection now???? what school offers that?

 

[OchemOficionado]

you can get a Ph. D in social media and medical student selection now???? what school offers that?

Lol, probably in sociology or something. I think that's just what her research is about.

 

[DBC03]

My first introduction to pre-med competitiveness was in high school when one pre-med in our class (yes, high school - he really wanted to be a doctor) tried to get the entire county grade point average system changed so he could be valedictorian. It ended up backfiring, but seriously? It really put me off the medical field for years.

I have a friend who was on the honor committee at Princeton and said 80% of the issues were from pre-meds.

 

[darmalee]

Yeah, stories like this are depressing. Does this kind of behavior persist very often into med-school? If so, are there some schools that have more of a reputation for cooperation vs ... I guess you'd call this "competitiveness"? Because in talking to other premeds I have gotten the impression that some schools are better about this sort of thing than others, and I would like to avoid that kind of learning environment.

If you interact at all with current students during your interview day, ask about this sort of thing. Be tactful, obviously, but I don't think there's anything wrong with asking about levels of cooperation between students. I sat on many panels over the years and this was something that we would voluntarily offer up information on because my school is very big on cooperation between students and has managed to foster an overall sense of collaboration. Grading schemes can play a big role, so that's another thing to ask about. My school wasn't P/F, but it was also completely uncurved, so there was no cost to you to have your classmates doing well.

I agree with a previous poster that the interview is not the best time to bring it up, but I think that it's a fair question, if asked appropriately, for current students. If there's some sort of social event before or after your interview, that's a great place to ask those sorts of questions.

 

[Lawpy]

Is hiding your social media necessary?
Has social media ever doomed a strong applicant in your experiences?
How deep do medical schools search an applicant personally?
Is this true about premed forums?

Assume all social media may be searched and seen by Adcoms so always be professional. One of the admission directors at a particular school is doing her doctorate in social media and medical student selection. Some medical schools have added an internet background search step usually post-interview, per-selection as due diligence to find any obvious issue. With automation and some software this is easy to do

This is a much larger issue for medical residents in applicant selection with many medical specialty academies and GME (residency) programs issue guidelines and, in some cases, strict agreements on social media use while in a program. The reason for this has been patients and families have started to look up doctors who are treating them. A case then was a 3rd year peds residents was treating a young girl and the next day the parents came in screaming to take that doctor away from my daughter or I will sue. Turned out the parents were freaked about a photo from a drunken frat party taken some 10 years earlier was posted on a social media site with this doctor tagged. (I will find the original case report and add it).

In the meanwhile there have been a slew of studies done on this to the point that AAMC has guidelines for applicants (first in list)
Aspiring Docs
The Impact of Social Media on Medical Professionalism: A Systematic Qualitative Review of Challenges and Opportunities
Influence of social networking websites on medical school and residency selection process. - PubMed - NCBI
Med school applicants might want to rethink that last tweet - amednews.com
Medscape: Medscape Access
Medical students’ and residents’ use of online social networking tools: Implications for teaching professionalism in medical education | Ferdig | First Monday
http://jepm.seahq.net/VolXVI_IssueV_McHugh.pdf

On the flip side, does any admissions committee require applicants to have social media? As in, if an applicant is not involved in social media at all (no Facebook, no Twitter, no LinkedIn etc. because they are not interested), will adcoms view this as a red flag and ding them? Seems stupid honestly (and looks bad on the school) but who knows

 

[darmalee]

On the flip side, does any admissions committee require applicants to have social media? As in, if an applicant is not involved in social media at all (no Facebook, no Twitter, no LinkedIn etc. because they are not interested), will adcoms ding them? Seems stupid honestly but who knows

I don't think so. I deactivated my accounts during the med school application cycle before I submitted my application and I know a ton of other people that did the same. I never heard of it coming up.

 

[Lawpy]

Schools expect you to be "normal" and socially adjusted. Not having any social media may be a red flag in this day and age

Uhh that doesn't make sense because people can be normal/socially adjusted without having an online presence.

I don't think so. I deactivated my accounts during the med school application cycle before I submitted my application and I know a ton of other people that did the same. I never heard of it coming up.

Well that and never having a social media account in the first place. But apparently schools/adcoms are acting on assumption that because social media is so widespread, everyone has social media and should be thoroughly examined. And not having one = apparently looks odd?

 

[DrHart]

On the flip side, does any admissions committee require applicants to have social media? As in, if an applicant is not involved in social media at all (no Facebook, no Twitter, no LinkedIn etc. because they are not interested), will adcoms view this as a red flag and ding them? Seems stupid honestly (and looks bad on the school) but who knows

I highly doubt it. Seeing as adcoms are made up of a generally older population, they themselves may not have social media. In addition, a lot of applicants will change their names and profiles during the cycle so if anyone did do a basic search, their profile wouldn't come up. No way to know for certain, so therefore no way to fairly ding them for it. (also no one would care in the first place if you don't have social media)

 

[libertyyne]

I deactivated my social media prior to app cycle and reactivated after traffic day. No one asked for it.

 

[darmalee]

[QUOTE="Well that and never having a social media account in the first place. But apparently schools/adcoms are acting on assumption that because social media is so widespread, everyone has social media and should be thoroughly examined. And not having one = apparently looks odd?[/QUOTE]
Sure, what I'm saying is that there's no way to tell the difference. I don't think it looks that strange. If anything, it shows that you're aware that you need to be protective of your social media. I'd wager that the assumption if you don't show up on a search is that you've modified your account in some way or deactivated it temporarily, but the bigger issue of whether or not you have a fully public profile with all sorts of questionable content out there is addressed.

 

[bannie22]

This is real life. You don't think that those people at the top of the food chain didn't do the same things throughout med school, residency, attending to get to where they are?

 

[unicornshadow888]

I highly doubt it. Seeing as adcoms are made up of a generally older population, they themselves may not have social media. In addition, a lot of applicants will change their names and profiles during the cycle so if anyone did do a basic search, their profile wouldn't come up. No way to know for certain, so therefore no way to fairly ding them for it. (also no one would care in the first place if you don't have social media)

You're not going to believe this, but there's software available where you can find the accounts of certain people just by looking at their IP addresses. Plus, changing names on social media doesn't do much because there are ways to recover old usernames. Like I said, you can't hide.

 

[LhopitalsRule]

So, I was reading that article about how 10 Harvard students were revoked of their admission because of the stupid things that they posted on a Facebook group chat. This got me thinking about how med school admissions officers view your social media (which I already presumed that they search for you anyway). I came up on an article from AAMC explaining how your social media does impact your chance of being admitted, and it included an interview with an admissions officer who said that if your profile picture includes you drinking or if it's with a confederate flag, they'll likely pass you over because it shows that you have poor judgement. In the latter case, they said that it shows that you're not sensitive to the struggles of African-Americans who will be your patients if you live in the US. Either way, I don't understand how people don't know that nothing is private on the Internet. There are ways that admissions people can find who you are and learn every detail about you. It's within their right. They aren't obligated to admit anyone.
Then, I discovered another issue that could easily hurt your chances of getting into med school: hyper-competitiveness. I came across another article where a pre-med had the audacity to hack into a professor's email and tell the one student that had top grades that the exam was cancelled and that they didn't have to go to class, all in the name of getting THEMSELVES to the top. Others included bullying, cheating, and giving inaccurate information on forums like this one just to eliminate competition. I'm sorry, but seriously? Some healthy competition is good, but that is just plain ridiculous. It's not ethical, and it's downright disgusting behavior. Similarly to those kids at Harvard, doctors are supposed to represent a certain ethical standard. If you resort to things like this, then you shouldn't be a doctor, period. Here's the article if you want to read more: Kaplan Test Prep Online Pressroom » Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Aspiring Doctors Lament the Hypercompetitive Pre-Med Academic Culture

I knew of a guy who got kicked because they school found out about underage drinking on his record, although that was awhile ago. The guy ended up going into PT instead and leads an okay life now.

As for the Harvard undergrads, I'm glad the kids will be learning at a young age that their actions have consequences. Hopefully they figure some stuff out about life due to the incident.

 

[unicornshadow888]

I deactivated my social media prior to app cycle and reactivated after traffic day. No one asked for it.

This is more of a thing that would happen after your interviews and acceptances. See the story about the Harvard college students.

 

[unicornshadow888]

My first introduction to pre-med competitiveness was in high school when one pre-med in our class (yes, high school - he really wanted to be a doctor) tried to get the entire county grade point average system changed so he could be valedictorian. It ended up backfiring, but seriously? It really put me off the medical field for years.

I have a friend who was on the honor committee at Princeton and said 80% of the issues were from pre-meds.

WOOOOOWWW... Med schools don't even look at high school GPA unless you were going into a BS/MD program. Why would they be so uptight about being valedictorian when high school performance has zero bearing on your admission to med school? It's really not that serious. Lol. You could be valedictorian in HS and end up with less than a 3.5 GPA in college. On the flip side, you could be average in HS and end up with a 3.9+ GPA in college. You just don't ever know.

 

[LhopitalsRule]

This is more of a thing that would happen after your interviews and acceptances. See the story about the Harvard college students.

Good thing my social media is 90% pictures of my dogs anyway. Haha.

 

[Geo16]

Anyone without FB/Twit/Insta/etc. ?
🙂

 

[Goro]

This is real life. You don't think that those people at the top of the food chain didn't do the same things throughout med school, residency, attending to get to where they are?

Please stop engaging in the sin of solipsism.

 

[DBC03]

Anyone without FB/Twit/Insta/etc. ?
🙂

Well, technically my husband does not have facebook or instagram, but he does hang out on twitter (not tweeting, but following people). He's actually a very well-adjusted person. But I tend to agree that no social presence could indicate a certain social awkwardness.

 

[DBC03]

WOOOOOWWW... Med schools don't even look at high school GPA unless you were going into a BS/MD program. Why would they be so uptight about being valedictorian when high school performance has zero bearing on your admission to med school? It's really not that serious. Lol. You could be valedictorian in HS and end up with less than a 3.5 GPA in college. On the flip side, you could be average in HS and end up with a 3.9+ GPA in college. You just don't ever know.

He did end up in a 7-year accelerated program, but I don't think that was his intention (he wanted to go Ivy). I remember him crying when he got anything less than 100 on an exam and thinking, "Oh goodness, I could never be a pre-med."

Then I started back at school last year and freaked out when I got less than 100 on an exam and here we are.

I also found something out when I came back to school - apparently some kids will go to their professors and complain about their grades until the professors change them. I wish I knew that was even a remote possibility when I was in undergrad. I always just figured your grade was set (and I went to a school where they graded on a curve and you had absolutely no idea what you were going to get until the actual grades came out, regardless of percentage).

In reality, I never would have done that, but looking back at a few choice grades, I wish I had.

 

[cactusman]

Well, technically my husband does not have facebook or instagram, but he does hang out on twitter (not tweeting, but following people). He's actually a very well-adjusted person. But I tend to agree that no social presence could indicate a certain social awkwardness.

I've never noticed social awkwardness in friends with no social media. I think all of us are just spending too much time on a forum and trying to forget about the correlation between depression and social media use.

 

[Lawpy]

Well, technically my husband does not have facebook or instagram, but he does hang out on twitter (not tweeting, but following people). He's actually a very well-adjusted person. But I tend to agree that no social presence could indicate a certain social awkwardness.

I've never noticed social awkwardness in friends with no social media. I think all of us are just spending too much time on a forum and trying to forget about the correlation between depression and social media use.

Maybe people just want to spend time doing real life stuff besides hanging out in the internet and creating an online presence.

I always struggle to understand this hidden expectation of having social media and this implication that no social media = social awkwardness. It makes no sense.

 

[raiderette]

As the granddaughter of a notorious figure that also wanted sorority life as an normality, my fb is squeaky clean. All premeds should look at everything. The internet is forever. Last year there was a story of parents that refused to keep a resident on their case because of photos from a Spring Break.

 

[LhopitalsRule]

As the granddaughter of a notorious figure that also wanted sorority life as an normality, my fb is squeaky clean. All premeds should look at everything. The internet is forever. Last year there was a story of parents that refused to keep a resident on their case because of photos from a Spring Break.

What do you mean about being the granddaughter of a notorious figure? I don't know how much salt people give to being related to someone "notorious." I mean, there is not much you can do if a family member acted inappropriately. Hopefully others understand that.

I couldn't make my Facebook inappropriate if I tried, I'm just not a party girl.

 

[aldol16]

If anybody has actually seen the profane messages, they are absolutely revolting - and I generally have a high tolerance for non-PC stuff. Some of this might attributable to the fact that they're 18 year olds and don't know better (kids will be kids), but the severity of the content made it especially shocking to be coming from an 18 year old.

But yeah, I don't understand how this relates to pre-meds, as these students had their admissions rescinded from Harvard College. Maybe some were pre-meds but we'd never know.

 

[unicornshadow888]

If anybody has actually seen the profane messages, they are absolutely revolting - and I generally have a high tolerance for non-PC stuff. Some of this might attributable to the fact that they're 18 year olds and don't know better (kids will be kids), but the severity of the content made it especially shocking to be coming from an 18 year old.

But yeah, I don't understand how this relates to pre-meds, as these students had their admissions rescinded from Harvard College. Maybe some were pre-meds but we'd never know.

It relates because something like this could happen to anyone. In the case of pre-meds, it's a warning to say: don't do anything stupid or unethical on the internet. That isn't limited just to extremely revolting posts like the ones from the former Harvard matriculants. That applies to things like posting pictures of yourself getting drunk, nudity, bad-mouthing schools or people, death threats (even if they are "jokes), not constructing your viewpoints in a tactful way, etc. Medical students are held to a significantly higher standard. Anything controversial or insensitive can get you booted. Why so harsh, you may ask? It's because you, as a future doctor, are in charge of people's health and wellbeing regardless of political affiliation, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, etc. You're expected to give everyone compassionate care. You're also representing the entire institution of medicine and your alma mater, so your behavior better be on point. Plus, patients have a history of looking up their doctors online. Like others have said, some have refused service from doctors who posted photos of themselves getting drunk during Spring Break during undergrad.

 

[DBC03]

Maybe people just want to spend time doing real life stuff besides hanging out in the internet and creating an online presence.

I always struggle to understand this hidden expectation of having social media and this implication that no social media = social awkwardness. It makes no sense.

I tend to agree with you, everyone I know who quit using it, did so because they were tired of the drama.

 

[DBC03]

I've never noticed social awkwardness in friends with no social media. I think all of us are just spending too much time on a forum and trying to forget about the correlation between depression and social media use.

I agree with you - everyone I know who quit is socially adjusted. I think it is interesting, however, that there can be an assumption that those without social media are not socially adjusted. On the other hand, I don't think it's worth joining facebook just to look more "normal."

So is there a possible dissertation in this? A study on those without social media vs those with it and how socially adjusted both groups are?

 

[Luka75]

I deactivated my social media prior to app cycle and reactivated after traffic day. No one asked for it.

Lol, I was thinking of doing the same thing but I was like :"lemme make social media work for me instead". So, I removed everything that could be controversial and left (and added) things that were objectively good like awards, saving puppies, travelling, and other stuff.

 

[aldol16]

It relates because something like this could happen to anyone. In the case of pre-meds, it's a warning to say: don't do anything stupid or unethical on the internet. That isn't limited just to extremely revolting posts like the ones from the former Harvard matriculants. That applies to things like posting pictures of yourself getting drunk, nudity, bad-mouthing schools or people, death threats (even if they are "jokes), not constructing your viewpoints in a tactful way, etc. Medical students are held to a significantly higher standard. Anything controversial or insensitive can get you booted. Why so harsh, you may ask? It's because you, as a future doctor, are in charge of people's health and wellbeing regardless of political affiliation, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, etc. You're expected to give everyone compassionate care. You're also representing the entire institution of medicine and your alma mater, so your behavior better be on point. Plus, patients have a history of looking up their doctors online. Like others have said, some have refused service from doctors who posted photos of themselves getting drunk during Spring Break during undergrad.

I don't think something like this could happen to just anyone because it takes a specific kind of person to say/post the kinds of things those kids posted. I agree that posting something stupid without thinking of the consequences could happen to anyone but the vast majority of people would not go to this level of stupidity. It seemed to me that several of those students really did have the racist/misogynistic/etc. viewpoints that their posts implied. This, I think, is very different from being tagged in a photo of you at a party where alcohol is served or expressing a viewpoint on a topic.

I think what gets medical students booted is more the insensitive/inappropriate than the controversial. You can't boot someone just because they have an ultra-conservative view of abortion, for example. Future patients come from the whole political spectrum.

 

[aldol16]

By the way, here's a good piece about how this specific instance is unique and beyond simple "provocative" postings and with advice on teen conduct in the digital age: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/...ission-offer-start-with-digital-literacy.html

 

[McRibs]

Not having any social media may be a red flag in this day and age

Well, I'm off to download Instagram, google "how to take a good selfie" and vomit uncontrollably.

I will report back in Sepia.

 

[unicornshadow888]

I can't imagine admissions committees taking the time to look up the social media profiles of so many applicants, even just the ones invited for interview. It's also easy for people to change their privacy settings on Facebook etc. to prevent people who aren't on their friends lists from seeing their stuff. That said, no one should ever consider social media to be "private" in the long run. I've been engaging in a good cleaning of all of my stuff before school begins just to be safe. You never know when some innocuous thing you shared in high school could become a political problem later on.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

They do it (typically to people who've already been accepted and throughout medical school/residency). There are a couple of events that I went to at some medical schools in my area and the admissions committee said that they check your social media. People getting admissions rescinded or kicked out of medical school for the things they post on social media happens more than you think. One of my mentors told me of a 4th year medical student who posted a picture of an obese patient on their social media and made fun of them. Their profile was set to private. Guess what happened? They were kicked out. Even with your settings set to "private", nothing is really ever private (like I said, go look at that Harvard story if you haven't already; the tasteless memes were posted in a private, closed group).
Here's another thing that you made me think of: political opinions in and of themselves aren't bad to include (it shows that you're an engaged citizen). You don't want to sound like someone who doesn't have opinions on anything. But, the WAY in which you show your political opinions matters. "Conservatives (and/or liberals) are f********" is going to hurt you. Sharing a news story and tactfully sharing your opinion won't hurt you (or at least it shouldn't).

 

[unicornshadow888]

I don't think something like this could happen to just anyone because it takes a specific kind of person to say/post the kinds of things those kids posted. I agree that posting something stupid without thinking of the consequences could happen to anyone but the vast majority of people would not go to this level of stupidity. It seemed to me that several of those students really did have the racist/misogynistic/etc. viewpoints that their posts implied. This, I think, is very different from being tagged in a photo of you at a party where alcohol is served or expressing a viewpoint on a topic.

I think what gets medical students booted is more the insensitive/inappropriate than the controversial. You can't boot someone just because they have an ultra-conservative view of abortion, for example. Future patients come from the whole political spectrum.

By "this", I meant getting your admission rescinded, not sharing racist or child pornographic imagery. The latter obviously constitutes a minority of the country and obviously doesn't apply to everyone.
And yeah, you're right about the political views. However, there was that one example that I talked about in my original post where an AAMC article showed an interview with an admissions counselor who said that if you have a pic of a confederate flag on your profile pic, then you might get dinged. It all depends on how you show those opinions and whether or not those opinions hurt other people.

 

[aldol16]

By "this", I meant getting your admission rescinded, not sharing racist or child pornographic imagery. The latter obviously constitutes a minority of the country and obviously doesn't apply to everyone.

Ah, I see. I think "child pornographic" isn't the correct term here. I think the memes contained jokes about racism, pedophilia, etc. that were all in bad taste but did not rise to the level of showing "child pornographic imagery." The latter would be a criminal issue.

And yeah, you're right about the political views. However, there was that one example that I talked about in my original post where an AAMC article showed an interview with an admissions counselor who said that if you have a pic of a confederate flag on your profile pic, then you might get dinged. It all depends on how you show those opinions and whether or not those opinions hurt other people.

I think that in general, showing up in a picture with any symbol that is universally accepted as containing extremely negative connotations (e.g. Confederate flag, swastika, etc.) is a bad idea not because of your views but because you show poor judgment in appearing in a photo that, by definition, offers little in terms of context. For example, appearing with a confederate flag is a bad idea whereas writing an essay that employs a well-reasoned argument in favor of retaining the confederate flag as a state symbol is a different story. Similarly, if you post "Hitler was a great leader" as a status on Facebook, expect to be judged for your poor judgment. Again, it would be a different case if you were making a well-reasoned argument as to why Hitler's leadership style was able to consolidate the German Army under him ("willingly" against their will) and therefore launch those military initiatives, then that would be a different story. The one thing similar about these examples is that one option shows poor judgment in letting yourself be associated with a negative symbol without context whereas the other option is an important exercise of your right to think independently and freely.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Schools expect you to be "normal" and socially adjusted. Not having any social media may be a red flag in this day and age

Black Mirror Nosedive is gonna be true some day.

 

[raiderette]

What do you mean about being the granddaughter of a notorious figure? I don't know how much salt people give to being related to someone "notorious." I mean, there is not much you can do if a family member acted inappropriately. Hopefully others understand that.

I couldn't make my Facebook inappropriate if I tried, I'm just not a party girl.

If you Google my state and last name, you get hundreds of articles about my family. It isn't pleasant and mist us true, so I have spent my life trying to prove I am not like the rest of my family.