Medical school accreditors are scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements in accreditation standards in response to political pressure, marking a dramatic shift in the higher education landscape.
Eight major accreditation organizations have changed their DEI policies since President Donald Trump’s April executive order empowering the Department of Education to scrutinize accreditors for promoting DEI, according to a new report from watchdog Do No Harm obtained by National Review.
“We are pleased that many of the accreditors responsible for injecting identity politics into medical education are backing off their DEI requirements,” said Do No Harm chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb.
“While these early results are encouraging, there is still much work to be done to rid our institutions entirely of the rot of racial politics. Removing DEI from accreditation standards is necessary, but to fully reform medical education, schools must also abandon DEI in favor of merit everywhere it is found.”
National Review previously reported on how medical school accreditors were using accreditation standards to increase the racial diversity of medical school classes, citing a report from Do No Harm issued in March. Seven of the ten accreditors noted in Do No Harm’s previous report have updated their accreditation standards to reduce or remove policies that privilege applicants and students of certain races.
Those accreditors are the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, the Council on Podiatric Medical Education, the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation, and the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education.
Those organizations have either eliminated DEI requirements, issued proposals for ending DEI, or promised not to enforce existing DEI requirements. Do No Harm’s report details the changes each organization has made to its DEI policies.
Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) suspended its DEI requirements following Trump’s executive order. Trump’s order specifically highlighted ACGME’s promotion of DEI because of its status as a leading medical school accreditor for residency and fellowship programs.
To enforce the executive order, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to investigate potentially unlawful DEI standards and take action against accreditors who maintain them.
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation, and the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education have not adjusted their DEI policies to account for Trump’s executive order.
“Overall, these findings demonstrate that medical and healthcare education accreditors are recognizing that DEI mandates are no longer tolerable. It is completely inappropriate and unethical for accreditors to inject identity politics into medical education,” Do No Harm’s latest report concludes.
“From President Trump’s executive order to state laws cracking down on DEI, these policies appear to be disincentivizing accreditors from maintaining their discriminatory accreditation requirements.”
Although they are not well known, accreditors have enormous power in shaping medical school education and the future of the medical profession. Trump’s executive order on removing DEI standards among accreditors is one of many executive actions the administration has taken to combat the outgrowth of DEI in education, corporate America, and the federal government as a whole.
DEI has become widespread across medical schools, even in states with laws barring such programs. The outgrowth of DEI jeopardizes the future of the medical profession at large because of DEI’s obsessive focus on race and group identification at the expense of merit and individual character.
Federal civil rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and other characteristics. Do No Harm has filed numerous lawsuits against medical schools over alleged racial discrimination in DEI-focused programs seeking to have them overturned.