Dartmouth College’s medical school faculty used university communication channels to urge students to oppose a New Hampshire bill banning gender transition surgeries for children, according to emails obtained by Do No Harm, an association of medical professionals.
The Geisel Medical School encouraged students to oppose three state bills, one of which bans gender transition surgeries for minors and the other protects children from being victimized in school or receiving sex surgeries as minors. The last bill requires people at schools, sports facilities and prisons to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex.
A student who asked to remain anonymous forwarded the emails from faculty to Do No Harm, an organization that works to keep politics out of medical education, research and clinical practice. The email urged students to take action by emailing and calling Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s office.
“It’s pushing an agenda, it’s advocating one way or the other when our purpose is to learn the science and art of practicing medicine,” a student who received the emails and asked to remain anonymous told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“If it was just the student’s email, and he just sent it out to everybody as his opinion, and even if he put it as part of a student group … I would have no issue with that. When it comes through the official email chain from faculty members’ email addresses … It tells me that the overall institution is wanting more of that agenda. It kind of, I guess, discourages people that maybe don’t see an eye to eye with that,” said the student.
Two associate deans and one medical student signed and sent the email.
“Recent legislative changes have raised concerns about the rights and well-being of our transgender community members. We urge healthcare providers, policymakers, and citizens to come together to ensure that every individual, regardless of gender identity, receives fair and equitable treatment,” the email stated.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of Do No Harm believes that the medical school faculty is pushing students to become advocates instead of physicians. He stated that students should be studying to become good doctors.
“Nowadays, the time they spend in studies has been extremely limited, and more and more time is devoted for the students being involved in community activities, for example, in advocacy and rather than in the hard, difficult study that they should be engaged in,” Goldfarb told the DCNF.
Recently, one Jewish professor was arrested and banned from the college’s campus as pro-Palestinian protests erupted. A socialist group also staged a walkout during graduation, calling for “death to America and Israel.”
Dartmouth College and Geisel Medical School did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
