The American College of Surgeons Gaslights Its Own Fellows

The leadership of the ACS asks Fellows to believe it is not captured by ideology when its own actions and policies confirm it is.

Gaslighting. The term describes the systematic psychological manipulation of an individual or group to cause them to doubt their grip on reality. It originated in the 1938 play, Gas Light, by Patrick Hamilton. Film adaptations of the play were released in 1940 and 1944.

In the story, the husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane.

Today, we live in a perpetual state of gaslighting. We are given a narrative about reality that is at odds with our own senses and perception of reality. When we question the false reality that we are being presented with or claim that what we see is the actual reality, we are vilified as, you name it- racists, xenophobes, misogynists, haters, bigots, etc. It is not that we are crazy. We are being gaslighted. Examples of this abound.

Covid indisputably came out of Wuhan, which has the only virology lab in China doing research on coronaviruses, including risky gain of function, and has been repeatedly criticized for unacceptable safety practices, yet we were told it came about naturally jumping from a bat to an intermediary host then to humans. Fauci’s minions told us a lab leak was a conspiracy theory. No animal host has ever been found and the virus has all the hallmarks of human engineering. Are we crazy? No, we are being gaslighted.

In 2020, we saw mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire, and burning down buildings yet journalists told us these were “mostly peaceful” demonstrations. Were we crazy? No, we were being gaslighted.

We saw surges in inner city crime- gang violence, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, and more but we were told that the problem was the police and we needed to defund them to make our cities safer. If we advocated for more policing, we are labeled white supremacists or racists. Were we crazy? No, we are being gaslighted.

During the Biden administration, we could see illegal immigrants by the tens of thousands streaming across the southern border, yet Biden and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Majorkas, assured us the border was “secure.” Were we crazy? No, we were being gaslighted.

We saw people by the millions, most of them minorities risking everything to come to our country, but we were told the U.S. is systemically racist and oppressive. Were we crazy? No, we are being gaslighted.

Capitalist countries are the most advanced, prosperous, and free in the world and capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system, but we are told it is an oppressive system designed to keep people down. Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their lives, drive their economies into the ground, and have been responsible for nearly 100 million deaths due to starvation or execution, yet we are told Communism is the most equitable, free, and prosperous economic system in the world. Are we crazy? No, we are being gaslighted.

The leadership of the American College of Surgeons declares that the ACS is structurally racist and surgery is discriminatory. It adopts the antiracism of Ibram X. Kendi into its values and invites Kendi as the keynote speaker at a retreat it hosted on diversity. It adds a pilar on diversity to the pre-existing five pilars and opens a new, regental Department of Diversity in the College. It adopts all the precepts and initiatives of DEI: training in white privilege, implicit bias, microaggressions, ally and active bystander actions. It adopts the odious concept of racial concordance which states patients do better if their doctor is of the same identity group as they are. Despite this, they deny they are embracing the ideology of DEI. When Fellows point these things out and question the wisdom of adopting DEI into the College, they are told that what they see happening is not really happening. Are the Fellows crazy? No, they are being gaslighted.

When the public perception of DEI shifts and it loses its luster due to its toxic divisiveness and failure to achieve tangible benefits, the ACS does not abandon this ideology, as so many have, but rather rebrands it as “Inclusive Excellence.” Fellows who check see no difference behind the name change. Are they crazy? No, they are being gaslighted.

The ACS permanently bans Fellows who object to its embrace of DEI over merit and excellence. I was told I was continuously disrespectful and posting inappropriate comments on the ACS discussion forums. When I asked for examples of my inappropriate comments, none were provided. When I asked for a hearing to appeal my ban, I was denied yet told I had received due process. I could go to the bylaws of the ACS and see in black and white where the leadership violated my rights yet persisted in claiming I received due process. Was I crazy? No, I was being gaslighted.

This pattern of gaslighting is typical of ideologically captured institutions that assume indefensible positions and are left with one recourse- to lie, even if the lie is obvious and counter to reality. After all, if you cannot defend your position, you can only hope that it will be accepted by simple repetition. In the infamous words of Joseph Goebbels, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

The Making of Plastic Surgeon- Two Years in the Crucible Learning the Art and Science, details the author’s two years of residency training to become, finally, a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is a unique glimpse into the fascinating and poorly understood world of plastic surgery.