American medicine is freaking out. Polls show that trust in medical professionals is the lowest in decades. Barely half the public has high levels of trust in doctors, with double-digit percentage declines in recent years. While the media is pointing the finger at politicians like President Donald Trump, the truth is that a different kind of politics has infected medicine. Left-wing activism has corrupted medical education and medical practice alike. Americans deserve to know exactly who’s sacrificing patient care in the name of politics.In a new report, my organization has shown how political activism has overtaken the biggest trendsetters in medicine — medical journals. While most Americans have never encountered these publications, they affect every American by setting and reflecting the direction of medical education, practice, and policy. The journals heavily shape the curriculum at medical schools, influencing what physicians learn, how they practice, and how they perceive their role. At the same time, what journals publish reflects the developments and priorities in medical schools. Finally, lawmakers and regulators also lean on the journals to shape public health mandates. Bottom line, if it’s published in a journal, it’s affecting real-life medicine, or it will soon.So it’s deeply concerning that medical journals have become obsessed with so-called “social determinants of health.” They’re using this phrase to push medical educators and doctors to focus on characteristics that correlate with health outcomes. The list includes everything from income level to educational attainment to immigration status. More recently, the phrase has come to include things like racism and climate change. It’s reasonable to assume that some of these things could play a role in patient health. But what exactly are doctors supposed to do about it?