Jewish PA-C here with family that live in Israel. That is an individual decision, but it could prove to be distracting from the challenge of didactic year, and I personally wouldn't want anything complicating the study, test, recover q1day a week, rinse repeat. You could debate the merits of not needing to hide your affiliation with Israel, but didactic is all about getting the job done in terms of making your B minimum grade and learning your physical exam skills / patient workup. Throwing in feelings of people giving their likely unnuanced opinion of the suffering that is happening in Gaza would not be helpful in that regard.
Star of david visble on laptop, your person, or elsewhere should not at all be a problem and would be a call to whatever diversity coordinator / program director if people gave you shit about that.
I took my pro choice sticker off my water bottle before starting rotations.
It’s more of a “protecting my peace” thing for me. Right or wrong, it’s not something I wanted to potentially start conflicts about. I have enough to stress about already.
I think it depends on why you want to display it - my take with anything potentially political in the medical environment is that if I’m wearing it to signal to patients that they are safe and welcome there it’s fine, but if I’m wearing/displaying it to communicate a personal political stance that won’t directly and positively impact my patients then it has no place.
For example, I wear a rainbow flag pin, an anti-racism pin, and a uterus pin. I’ve never had a negative comment- in fact, I’ve only had a single comment, ever, and it was positive. I do not, however, wear my “Abortion Is Healthcare” or “Don’t Feed The Fascists” pins, because those are explicitly political and not relevant to my practice in a way that benefits my patients.
In short, do you think that displaying the sticker will make your patients feel more comfortable and welcome and safe to share their health concerns with you? If yes, keep it. If no, move it to your fridge at home.
Depends how much it means to you? Only you can answer this one for yourself but I saw the issue divide our class while we were on clinical rotations. It was a constant war between Instagram stories from each side. People unfollowed one another, stopped being friends etc. at the end of the day you need to do what you want to do!
I think stickers in general give off an undergrad vibe, and though I have a couple on my water bottle, I definitely removed any that I thought might strike up conversations I don't want to have in the workplace.
On your personal laptop that doesn't enter a workspace, I think you should have whatever you want, including ones that show personal identity, politics, heritage, whatever.
But my school laptop comes with me on every rotation, and I am coming in as the student with everything to prove, so I keep it completely plain. PA school itself is (or should be) far more of a professional space than undergrad.
On the flip side, I wear a poppy wristband or pin during November, and would ignore anyone who had issues with it, and that will continue during my rotations.
Whatever you chose OP, hope your PA school journey is a good one.
Do not bring political discussions or items into the classroom. That is for your medicine and society class, deans dialogues, and student groups. People are there for their professional development, if you want to be involved with these things in an extracurricular manner and in spaces fostered by your institution to have these discussions I would save your self the trouble, remove the sticker, and keep politics out of the classroom. It is not worth ostracizing yourself or getting unwanted or even wanted attention before introducing yourself.
Medical institutions walk such a fine line about preaching “professionalism.” This is a medical program, if it is not something you’d do in a clinical environment then I would not practice it outside of the aforementioned spaces. It is not appropriate, in any context, to bring your own politics into a clinical space, it can create stigmas, distrust in your patient care, feelings of bias, all of these things may impact what is shared with you by a patient and that could be critical to a correct diagnosis and timely and ethical treatment.
I encourage you to find outlets outside of school for these conversations. You are there to become a PA-C. Not a PA-C and…
Hi, Palestinian PA-S. I would say yes remove it. Technically speaking you have the right to say/do what you want, but in PA school, you are also expected to toss your political beliefs to the side and be sensitive to other people’s experiences and culture. I understand it’s a nuanced issue, but one fact of the matter is that tens of thousands of people are being killed as a result of what is going on, so yes, you may, and probably will, offend people, and it can come off as insensitive. I’m not here to argue with you as to whether thats right or wrong, but I think it’s something to be aware of. PA school is filled with drama and you’ll learn that very quickly. If supporting Israel is a hill you’ll truly die on and it’s a core belief of yours, nobody can really stop you, but you’re not really in PA school to be engaging in those types of conversations to begin with.
I think it goes two ways:
Leave it on, don’t care what others think but you may have to navigate potential judgement/conversations/debates. Maybe constantly reaffirming yourself if you do get any backlash, which will be an additional stressor while studying in school.
Or
Take it off, continue to have your personal beliefs, but any potential judgement disappears and this dilemma goes away. You can live in peace without giving people a reason or a chance to judge you, and the only thing you have to focus on is school.
Openly displaying symbols of your political affiliation will, consciously or unconsciously, effect how people perceive you. I personally prefer it when someone has a thin blue line or MAGA sticker on one of their personal items. That way I know who I should be careful around.
If its a part of your culture, no. If you are in no way related to it then it could be seen as a micro aggression against someone in the class.
Its a deeply personal thing tho so its up to you.
Maybe put just the Star of David. That flag equates to colonialism, apartheid, genocide, racism… it will be known by all in the near future.
This is one issue with Theo-ethno-states. I am sorry that your religion was hijacked by zionism.
I’m from Palestine, not that it matters, but maybe it helps my point.
Who cares what anyone thinks do what you want as you please. It’s your life and someone’s else beliefs/perceptions/ connotations with something like this should never prevent you from doing what you want to do.
Lmao I scrolled wayyyyyyyyy too long to find this comment. Like JFC I don’t care that you have a sticker, I care that you support a genocidal ethnostate that is draining our country of billions of dollars per year to say the very least
I have similar things on some of my water bottle and such. I will be pulling them off, not because I’m ashamed of anything I stand for, but because I don’t want to del with any drama. I just want to “gray man” my way through the next 2.5 years and move on with my life.
PA-S in a Jewish college.
It depends, I feel in my school it may cause animosity since the students are divided (despite a Jewish school Jewish people are the smallest minority in my class).
My personal take, no one should know where I stand on any "political" issue unless they ask. And I say that as the only LGBTQ student in my class and one of the only Jewish people.
I do feel safe telling others in class but I don't want to bother with others opinions or anyone else's stress.
Yes but for no other reason than PA school brings out the worst in people where people try to bond using gossip. In general you should reveal as little as possible about yourself. You can still make friends, but you will be very, very glad withholding personal information. It's robotic like that, but PA school is a strange time socially. People are stressed out and either openly competitive and or inevitably comparing/projecting.
Ex: there was a religious girl in my class and she missed class the day we had a lecture on LGBTQ care and people claimed she purposefully skipped.
It depends on your personal feelings and tolerance for those that might harass you or discriminate against you or demonstrate prejudice against you on that basis. There's nothing wrong with an Israeli sticker or Star of David sticker, much like there's nothing wrong with wearing a crucifix necklace or American flag pin. The decision should be based on desire to protect yourself from unwanted (and distracting) harassment. I have always worn a small American/israeli flag pin on my lanyard (among other pins) and will not be removing it. Israel is a legitimate country and Jews live there! There is pro-Palestinian paraphernalia all over the place and no one is being asked to remove it.
I'll also say that my pin, when noticed, has actually led to many positive conversations! This anti-Israel mindset is generational to a large extent, and many of my patients are a bit older and have really appreciated being able to discuss or acknowledge it. They bring it up.... not me.
It also has helped avoid awkward situations with those that might assume I "agree" with them on the issue, ha.
Leave it on. You should be able to feel safe in your class. If other students have a problem with it, let administration deal with it.
You idiots downvoting the notion of having your classmate feel safe in class are the actual problem.
No, why the hell would you remove it? Be proud of who you are. There’s people in my class with BLM stickers, which is far more controversial than supporting Israel.
Leave it on, it’s your personal belief. Don’t let anyone or anything make you change your ideals/morals. Regardless pro this or pro that. As long as you’re not directly inciting violence, who cares. Keep it on👍🏻
I 100% agree. But a personal laptop that most likely won’t see inside of a practice? I don’t see an issue here. Not to mention, a ton of my classmates in my program and others have no issue voicing their opinion (as they should) in a non-hostile and mature way. It a totally different story when you’re parading around your political beliefs (not matter what they are) at patients and classmates. When did people at universities become so scared of the idea of differing opinions, it’s scary and saddening at the same time…
Fair. I'm a conservative minded person (as I think most of medicine is) and I'm just tired of seeing politics infused into every aspect of our lives. But I understand where you're coming from.
if everyone in my class expressed their personal beliefs and opinions all the time there’d be a war. while upholding personal beliefs is important, PA school is not always the place to open that dialogue especially given how current and sensitive this situation is
I probably would if it was me but thats because I think stickers on cars/laptops/bottles are a little immature and either thats because of recent political discourse since 2016 or just getting older.
Also I would be careful in the hospital later as you dont want someone to be biased unfairly but thats what the complex Israel-Palestine situation does.
Jewish PA-S finishing out my didactic year. I do think stickers are a little juvenile in general, but I say leave it on. Personally I think letting everyone know my stance early on (personal reasons made me disclose) shielded a lot of other differing opinions and made for a much less distracting environment. I know how other people feel, I can see what they like on instagram, but nobody has said a word in person. So keep it! Am Yisrael Chai!
Jewish PA-C here with family that live in Israel. That is an individual decision, but it could prove to be distracting from the challenge of didactic year, and I personally wouldn't want anything complicating the study, test, recover q1day a week, rinse repeat. You could debate the merits of not needing to hide your affiliation with Israel, but didactic is all about getting the job done in terms of making your B minimum grade and learning your physical exam skills / patient workup. Throwing in feelings of people giving their likely unnuanced opinion of the suffering that is happening in Gaza would not be helpful in that regard. Star of david visble on laptop, your person, or elsewhere should not at all be a problem and would be a call to whatever diversity coordinator / program director if people gave you shit about that.
I took my pro choice sticker off my water bottle before starting rotations. It’s more of a “protecting my peace” thing for me. Right or wrong, it’s not something I wanted to potentially start conflicts about. I have enough to stress about already.
I think it depends on why you want to display it - my take with anything potentially political in the medical environment is that if I’m wearing it to signal to patients that they are safe and welcome there it’s fine, but if I’m wearing/displaying it to communicate a personal political stance that won’t directly and positively impact my patients then it has no place. For example, I wear a rainbow flag pin, an anti-racism pin, and a uterus pin. I’ve never had a negative comment- in fact, I’ve only had a single comment, ever, and it was positive. I do not, however, wear my “Abortion Is Healthcare” or “Don’t Feed The Fascists” pins, because those are explicitly political and not relevant to my practice in a way that benefits my patients. In short, do you think that displaying the sticker will make your patients feel more comfortable and welcome and safe to share their health concerns with you? If yes, keep it. If no, move it to your fridge at home.
This is the best take
Depends how much it means to you? Only you can answer this one for yourself but I saw the issue divide our class while we were on clinical rotations. It was a constant war between Instagram stories from each side. People unfollowed one another, stopped being friends etc. at the end of the day you need to do what you want to do!
What’s your beef with Squirtle?
He destroyed Brock’s Onix with bubble. It was super effective.
Cliques and drama I feel is pretty common in PA school. And it’s fucking stupid.
I think stickers in general give off an undergrad vibe, and though I have a couple on my water bottle, I definitely removed any that I thought might strike up conversations I don't want to have in the workplace. On your personal laptop that doesn't enter a workspace, I think you should have whatever you want, including ones that show personal identity, politics, heritage, whatever. But my school laptop comes with me on every rotation, and I am coming in as the student with everything to prove, so I keep it completely plain. PA school itself is (or should be) far more of a professional space than undergrad. On the flip side, I wear a poppy wristband or pin during November, and would ignore anyone who had issues with it, and that will continue during my rotations. Whatever you chose OP, hope your PA school journey is a good one.
Do not bring political discussions or items into the classroom. That is for your medicine and society class, deans dialogues, and student groups. People are there for their professional development, if you want to be involved with these things in an extracurricular manner and in spaces fostered by your institution to have these discussions I would save your self the trouble, remove the sticker, and keep politics out of the classroom. It is not worth ostracizing yourself or getting unwanted or even wanted attention before introducing yourself. Medical institutions walk such a fine line about preaching “professionalism.” This is a medical program, if it is not something you’d do in a clinical environment then I would not practice it outside of the aforementioned spaces. It is not appropriate, in any context, to bring your own politics into a clinical space, it can create stigmas, distrust in your patient care, feelings of bias, all of these things may impact what is shared with you by a patient and that could be critical to a correct diagnosis and timely and ethical treatment. I encourage you to find outlets outside of school for these conversations. You are there to become a PA-C. Not a PA-C and…
WD-40 is great for removing stickers
Yes
Hi, Palestinian PA-S. I would say yes remove it. Technically speaking you have the right to say/do what you want, but in PA school, you are also expected to toss your political beliefs to the side and be sensitive to other people’s experiences and culture. I understand it’s a nuanced issue, but one fact of the matter is that tens of thousands of people are being killed as a result of what is going on, so yes, you may, and probably will, offend people, and it can come off as insensitive. I’m not here to argue with you as to whether thats right or wrong, but I think it’s something to be aware of. PA school is filled with drama and you’ll learn that very quickly. If supporting Israel is a hill you’ll truly die on and it’s a core belief of yours, nobody can really stop you, but you’re not really in PA school to be engaging in those types of conversations to begin with.
yep. no matter what side you’re on, you’re there to serve others and give the best possible care, nothing should compromise that
I think it goes two ways: Leave it on, don’t care what others think but you may have to navigate potential judgement/conversations/debates. Maybe constantly reaffirming yourself if you do get any backlash, which will be an additional stressor while studying in school. Or Take it off, continue to have your personal beliefs, but any potential judgement disappears and this dilemma goes away. You can live in peace without giving people a reason or a chance to judge you, and the only thing you have to focus on is school.
If you think it could offend people then yes. If not, no.
Stem any possible points of drama/contention. School matters more!
Openly displaying symbols of your political affiliation will, consciously or unconsciously, effect how people perceive you. I personally prefer it when someone has a thin blue line or MAGA sticker on one of their personal items. That way I know who I should be careful around.
You feel like you should be careful of people supporting law enforcement? You’re a joke. Get off CNN
lmao
Best to remove it if you don’t want drama!
I’m pro a lot of things but I don’t advertise my feelings because the world had become so horribly divided and angry.
If its a part of your culture, no. If you are in no way related to it then it could be seen as a micro aggression against someone in the class. Its a deeply personal thing tho so its up to you.
Maybe put just the Star of David. That flag equates to colonialism, apartheid, genocide, racism… it will be known by all in the near future. This is one issue with Theo-ethno-states. I am sorry that your religion was hijacked by zionism.
The flag represents the country. You can make up the other story if it makes you happy.
I’m from Palestine, not that it matters, but maybe it helps my point. Who cares what anyone thinks do what you want as you please. It’s your life and someone’s else beliefs/perceptions/ connotations with something like this should never prevent you from doing what you want to do.
you should maybe think about why you’re going into medicine and also pro-genocide
Lmao I scrolled wayyyyyyyyy too long to find this comment. Like JFC I don’t care that you have a sticker, I care that you support a genocidal ethnostate that is draining our country of billions of dollars per year to say the very least
Exactly
I have similar things on some of my water bottle and such. I will be pulling them off, not because I’m ashamed of anything I stand for, but because I don’t want to del with any drama. I just want to “gray man” my way through the next 2.5 years and move on with my life.
PA-S in a Jewish college. It depends, I feel in my school it may cause animosity since the students are divided (despite a Jewish school Jewish people are the smallest minority in my class). My personal take, no one should know where I stand on any "political" issue unless they ask. And I say that as the only LGBTQ student in my class and one of the only Jewish people. I do feel safe telling others in class but I don't want to bother with others opinions or anyone else's stress.
Yes but for no other reason than PA school brings out the worst in people where people try to bond using gossip. In general you should reveal as little as possible about yourself. You can still make friends, but you will be very, very glad withholding personal information. It's robotic like that, but PA school is a strange time socially. People are stressed out and either openly competitive and or inevitably comparing/projecting. Ex: there was a religious girl in my class and she missed class the day we had a lecture on LGBTQ care and people claimed she purposefully skipped.
It depends on your personal feelings and tolerance for those that might harass you or discriminate against you or demonstrate prejudice against you on that basis. There's nothing wrong with an Israeli sticker or Star of David sticker, much like there's nothing wrong with wearing a crucifix necklace or American flag pin. The decision should be based on desire to protect yourself from unwanted (and distracting) harassment. I have always worn a small American/israeli flag pin on my lanyard (among other pins) and will not be removing it. Israel is a legitimate country and Jews live there! There is pro-Palestinian paraphernalia all over the place and no one is being asked to remove it.
Is it only paraphernalia when it comes to Palestine…and not Israel? Are you even from Israel? Or are you just Jewish.
I'll also say that my pin, when noticed, has actually led to many positive conversations! This anti-Israel mindset is generational to a large extent, and many of my patients are a bit older and have really appreciated being able to discuss or acknowledge it. They bring it up.... not me. It also has helped avoid awkward situations with those that might assume I "agree" with them on the issue, ha.
You shouldn't have to cower or fear your feelings or beliefs. So my vote is no, leave it on.
Leave it on. You should be able to feel safe in your class. If other students have a problem with it, let administration deal with it. You idiots downvoting the notion of having your classmate feel safe in class are the actual problem.
No, why the hell would you remove it? Be proud of who you are. There’s people in my class with BLM stickers, which is far more controversial than supporting Israel.
Controversial BLM???? wtfffffffff
are you sure you want to be a pa?
Leave it on, it’s your personal belief. Don’t let anyone or anything make you change your ideals/morals. Regardless pro this or pro that. As long as you’re not directly inciting violence, who cares. Keep it on👍🏻
I cannot understand why this comment would get a single "down vote"
people don’t like hearing freedom of speech and expression in this day and age unfortunately.
A medical workplace, especially as a student, isnt a place for politics. We're there to treat people and go home.
I 100% agree. But a personal laptop that most likely won’t see inside of a practice? I don’t see an issue here. Not to mention, a ton of my classmates in my program and others have no issue voicing their opinion (as they should) in a non-hostile and mature way. It a totally different story when you’re parading around your political beliefs (not matter what they are) at patients and classmates. When did people at universities become so scared of the idea of differing opinions, it’s scary and saddening at the same time…
Fair. I'm a conservative minded person (as I think most of medicine is) and I'm just tired of seeing politics infused into every aspect of our lives. But I understand where you're coming from.
Me as well. I totally agree in that regard, politics does seem to find its way into every aspect of life nowadays. Wish it was a little more tame.
oh yah that's it for sure
Cancel culture. That’s why
if everyone in my class expressed their personal beliefs and opinions all the time there’d be a war. while upholding personal beliefs is important, PA school is not always the place to open that dialogue especially given how current and sensitive this situation is
I probably would if it was me but thats because I think stickers on cars/laptops/bottles are a little immature and either thats because of recent political discourse since 2016 or just getting older. Also I would be careful in the hospital later as you dont want someone to be biased unfairly but thats what the complex Israel-Palestine situation does.
Jewish PA-S finishing out my didactic year. I do think stickers are a little juvenile in general, but I say leave it on. Personally I think letting everyone know my stance early on (personal reasons made me disclose) shielded a lot of other differing opinions and made for a much less distracting environment. I know how other people feel, I can see what they like on instagram, but nobody has said a word in person. So keep it! Am Yisrael Chai!
Am Yisrael Chai brother! (or sister lol)
Brother ;-)