Am including the paper itself at its' own link. Interesting graphs and charts. However, doesn't make a person feel real comfortable should they get a minority cardiologist who just finished residency. Once again, some people can't handle the truth.
Anti-Affirmative Action Paper Blows Up on Twitter
— Former fellowship director's arguments "should both enrage & activate all of us"
by Crystal Phend, Senior Editor, MedPage Today August 4, 2020
A paper advocating against affirmative action in cardiology programs is melting under a blast of Twitter heat.
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association as a self-styled "white paper," it included the following statements:
"Racial and ethnic preferences at both the undergraduate and professional school levels for blacks and Hispanics result in relatively weak academic starting positions in classes. This has been postulated to lead to poor performance through compounding 'academic mismatch,' stress‐related interference, and disengagement. Many do not complete their intended programs or do not attain academic success to be attractive candidates for subsequent educational programs or employment."
The paper's conclusion:
"As Fitzgerald envisioned, 'We will have succeeded when we no longer think we require black doctors for black patients, chicano doctors for chicano patients, or gay doctors for gay patients, but rather good doctors for all patients.' Evolution to strategies that are neutral to race and ethnicity is essential. Ultimately, all who aspire to a profession in medicine and cardiology must be assessed as individuals on the basis of their personal merits, not their racial and ethnic identities."
It was originally published in March, stirring some indignation at the time, but the controversy blew up on Twitter this past weekend, with the #MedRacism hashtag now in vogue. The reaction also called to mind the recent #medBikini outburst that followed another ill-advised journal publication.
McMaster University cardiologist Harriette Van Spall, MD, MPH, tweeted about the JAHA paper: "This article affirms historic stereotypes, doesn't account for structural biases that kids face leading up to their applications, & appears to be a lengthy, solo viewpoint vs white paper. Until editorial teams fully reflect the membership, we'll continue to see articles like this."
Duke cardiologist Ann Marie Navar, MD, PhD, countered a number of the paper's arguments in a series of Twitter posts.
Interventional cardiologist Seyi Bolorunduro, MD, MPH, of NOVA Cardiovascular Care in Woodbridge, Virginia, said the paper aligns with systemic racism in sending the message that minority trainees are in their position only because of affirmative action, rather than through merit, and that their presence reflects a decline in standards.
"The fact that this is published in 'our' journal should both enrage & activate all of us," tweeted Sharonne Hayes, MD, director of diversity and inclusion at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The journal doesn't fall under the direct editorial control of the AHA, noted its immediate past-president, Robert Harrington, MD.
Even so, "I want to be very clear that this paper is not at all aligned w our values as an organization," he tweeted.
AHA president-elect Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, agreed, questioning how it could have been published "given the unbalanced, unscientific, and untrue statements made."
The journal tweeted that the paper was being reevaluated. On Tuesday, Editor Barry London, MD, PhD, attached an apology to the paper, saying JAHA "will support all efforts to correct this error, including but not limited to the publication of alternate viewpoints, which we solicited at the time of publication but have not yet been submitted to the journal. In addition, we will work to improve our peer review system to prevent future missteps of this type."
The paper's author, Norman C. Wang, MD, is at the Heart and Vascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and had been director of its electrophysiology fellowship program. Some cardiologists, like Navar, questioned how Wang's opinions affected his role as fellowship director.
"He was removed as EP PD as soon as this was known," tweeted director of UPMC's general cardiology fellowship, Kathryn Berlacher, MD. That happened on July 31, 2020, according to UPMC media relations. (Wang did not respond to MedPage Today's request for comment.)
Article:
Anti-Affirmative Action Paper Blows Up on Twitter
— Former fellowship director's arguments "should both enrage & activate all of us"
by Crystal Phend, Senior Editor, MedPage Today August 4, 2020
A paper advocating against affirmative action in cardiology programs is melting under a blast of Twitter heat.
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association as a self-styled "white paper," it included the following statements:
"Racial and ethnic preferences at both the undergraduate and professional school levels for blacks and Hispanics result in relatively weak academic starting positions in classes. This has been postulated to lead to poor performance through compounding 'academic mismatch,' stress‐related interference, and disengagement. Many do not complete their intended programs or do not attain academic success to be attractive candidates for subsequent educational programs or employment."
The paper's conclusion:
"As Fitzgerald envisioned, 'We will have succeeded when we no longer think we require black doctors for black patients, chicano doctors for chicano patients, or gay doctors for gay patients, but rather good doctors for all patients.' Evolution to strategies that are neutral to race and ethnicity is essential. Ultimately, all who aspire to a profession in medicine and cardiology must be assessed as individuals on the basis of their personal merits, not their racial and ethnic identities."
It was originally published in March, stirring some indignation at the time, but the controversy blew up on Twitter this past weekend, with the #MedRacism hashtag now in vogue. The reaction also called to mind the recent #medBikini outburst that followed another ill-advised journal publication.
McMaster University cardiologist Harriette Van Spall, MD, MPH, tweeted about the JAHA paper: "This article affirms historic stereotypes, doesn't account for structural biases that kids face leading up to their applications, & appears to be a lengthy, solo viewpoint vs white paper. Until editorial teams fully reflect the membership, we'll continue to see articles like this."
Duke cardiologist Ann Marie Navar, MD, PhD, countered a number of the paper's arguments in a series of Twitter posts.
Interventional cardiologist Seyi Bolorunduro, MD, MPH, of NOVA Cardiovascular Care in Woodbridge, Virginia, said the paper aligns with systemic racism in sending the message that minority trainees are in their position only because of affirmative action, rather than through merit, and that their presence reflects a decline in standards.
"The fact that this is published in 'our' journal should both enrage & activate all of us," tweeted Sharonne Hayes, MD, director of diversity and inclusion at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The journal doesn't fall under the direct editorial control of the AHA, noted its immediate past-president, Robert Harrington, MD.
Even so, "I want to be very clear that this paper is not at all aligned w our values as an organization," he tweeted.
AHA president-elect Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, agreed, questioning how it could have been published "given the unbalanced, unscientific, and untrue statements made."
The journal tweeted that the paper was being reevaluated. On Tuesday, Editor Barry London, MD, PhD, attached an apology to the paper, saying JAHA "will support all efforts to correct this error, including but not limited to the publication of alternate viewpoints, which we solicited at the time of publication but have not yet been submitted to the journal. In addition, we will work to improve our peer review system to prevent future missteps of this type."
The paper's author, Norman C. Wang, MD, is at the Heart and Vascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and had been director of its electrophysiology fellowship program. Some cardiologists, like Navar, questioned how Wang's opinions affected his role as fellowship director.
"He was removed as EP PD as soon as this was known," tweeted director of UPMC's general cardiology fellowship, Kathryn Berlacher, MD. That happened on July 31, 2020, according to UPMC media relations. (Wang did not respond to MedPage Today's request for comment.)
Article:
