A prestigious US medical school reportedly offered a course over the summer that promoted “alarming” progressive ideals – including several related to gender and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The course, titled “Health Equity and Equity,” took place last summer at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri — and some of its alleged teachings were revealed by Fox News on Sunday.
The outlet published a series of PowerPoint slides that appeared to show the class’s erratic content — including one that insisted BMI should stand for “seriously flawed idea” because it “determines a person’s gender or ethnicity.” “not taken into account.
Another, who studies “health equity,” argues that nutrition is inherently racist—because the white doctor who invented the concept of calorie counting conducted nutritional experiments on Aboriginal children for this purpose in the 1940s.
The lesson then ends with a series of points highlighting the “structural differences between cis and trans individuals,” with one insisting on “the contribution of these structural differences to gender identity.” [remains] not clear.’
The course, titled “Health Equity and Equity,” took place last summer at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri — and some of its alleged teachings were revealed by Fox News on Sunday. The St. Louis School Brookings Hall building can be seen here
The slide, unlike the others, appears to promote the recent use of cross-sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone blockers, even as it acknowledges that the effect of such hormones on a person’s biological neural network remains “unknown.”
On the leaked BMI page — which stands for “body mass index” — instructors note that “current BMIs are based on the imagined “ideal” Caucasian” and should therefore be taken with caution.
Titled “Why BMI Should Stand for Badly Mistaken Idea,” the slide in question states: “Current BMI limits are based on the imagined “ideal” Caucasian and do not take into account the ethnicity of a person’s gender.”
“Higher and lower BMIs.” [sic] could be healthier for different groups of people.’
Another point argues, “Because many people with a higher BMI are healthy, BMI may perpetuate weight bias.”
“People in larger bodies,” it continues, “tend to receive a lower quality of care.”
It goes on to say that “too much focus on weight can promote harmful eating habits” and that the “BMI and weight bias” created by the scientific system – which is mathematically derived from a given person’s height and weight – “can stop people from doing it”. They seek medical attention, which leads to poorer health outcomes.”
The film then warns that scars around the weight “[cause] chronic stress’. while also insisting that there are better predictors of it [one’s] Health status.’
The slides obtained by Fox make no mention of such an alternative — although another aims to convey a very different message that relates to health in the context of race.
The slide, titled “Racism and Diet,” argues that diet is inherently steeped in racism.
To illustrate this argument, the slide features a TikTok video in which a black man explains that Canadian Dr. Lionel Bradley Pett, who first determined how many calories per day were needed to survive, “figured out exactly what it took to keep the human body alive by starving local children.”
While the claim is true, it seems to suggest that calorie counting is an inevitably racist construct – with the smiling TikToker ultimately concluding that the government had approved the experiments: “And so the deaths of Indigenous children became the present moment in the history of white people.”
“Happy Indigenous Heritage Month,” he added.
Then, on a slide that appears to mark the conclusion of the supposed lesson, the instructors write that “multiple modalities reveal structural differences between” straight and LGBTQ people — before pointing out that “these structural differences contribute to gender identity.” [is] not clear.’
Finally, the lecturers write that “the impact of gender-affirming hormone therapy or the type of treatment on the neural circuits of gender identity is unknown” – and yet they promote puberty blockers.
Speaking to Fox Sunday, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, the head of a national coalition of physicians opposed to polarizing, progressive ideas in the U.S. health care system, said this downturn was extremely dangerous for him.
“Most concerning is their continued advocacy for the use of puberty blockers in children,” the “Do Not Harm” doctor said, pointing out that this violates the laws currently in effect in the state where Dean David’s drug is located H. Perlmutter’s school is located.
“This law is consistent with the best scientific evidence identified by five European countries whose health systems have conducted thorough and systematic research,” Goldfarb said, while also criticizing the other slides obtained by the outlet.
He said they “seem to be actively teaching highly political and divisive ideologies to their students.”
Washington University – which was recently forced by newly passed state law to eliminate the distribution of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on campus – did not immediately respond to a request for comment from .
Perlmutter “leads a $3.2 billion academic medical center,” according to the school’s website.
The school is the third largest research-intensive medical school in the United States, investing $1.2 billion annually in basic and medical science research.