A leading medical school accreditor recently announced it is suspending its diversity requirements because of changes to state and federal laws, a decision it made only weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order increasing accountability for accreditors.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is pausing the enforcement of diversity requirements following President Trump’s order, “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education,” which empowers the Education Department to assess whether to suspend accreditors that push diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates.
“The ACGME has heard significant concerns from multiple constituents in several states and from federal Sponsoring Institutions about their ability to comply with some of the ACGME requirements addressing diversity in light of state or federal laws,” ACGME CEO Debra Weinstein and Board of Directors Chair George Thibault said in a notice.
The ACGME is a nonprofit responsible for accrediting all of all residency and fellowship programs for U.S. physicians. Trump’s order specifically highlighted ACGME’s instructions for medical schools to recruit and retain individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups who are underrepresented in medicine.
“The standards for training tomorrow’s doctors should focus solely on providing the highest quality care, and certainly not on requiring unlawful discrimination,” the executive order reads.
The president directed the attorney general and secretary of education to work with the Health and Human Services secretary to investigate whether the DEI requirements constitute unlawful discrimination.
Federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and other characteristics. Progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion programs typically fixate on race and other immutable characteristics in education and hiring, rather than focusing on qualifications.
In compliance with Trump’s order, Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a dear colleague letter to educational institutions informing them of new guidelines to expedite requests for institutions to change accreditors if they see fit.
“We must foster a competitive marketplace both amongst accreditors and colleges and universities in order to lower college costs and refocus postsecondary education on improving academic and workforce outcomes for students and families,” McMahon said at the start of May.
Medical school accreditors have used their standards to pressure institutions into adopting DEI at the expense of rigorous education and training for the next generation of professionals, watchdog group Do No Harm found in a study first reported by NR in March. The group identified ten accrediting organizations that promote DEI through references to “diversity” in their standards or outright DEI requirements for the programs they oversee.
“ACGME has finally cracked after three months of doubling-down on its commitment to radical identity politics. ACGME’s suspension of absurd diversity rules is an encouraging first step but now it must permanently eliminate these requirements – along with the equity in education rule it still enforces,” Do No Harm senior fellow Dr. Travis Morrell said, reacting to the ACGME’s decision to suspend its diversity requirements.
“The sudden change of tune is a direct result of President Trump’s historic executive order dismantling accreditors’ ability to impose DEI requirements on schools. By prioritizing expertise over politics, we will slowly but surely restore a culture of meritocracy to American medical institutions.”
Do No Harm has filed numerous legal challenges against medical schools and affiliated organizations over alleged violations of federal civil rights law in connection with DEI programs and requirements.
While overlooked, medical school accreditors play an important role in setting standards at top schools, making them enormously influential in dictating the future of the American medical system. Left-wing ideology on topics such race, gender, and obesity is increasingly commonplace in medical schools, even in red states where progressive viewpoints are widely rejected.