President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order to further advance racial "equity" through the federal government. This has sparked debate nationwide about the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and their long-term impact.

And now, the American healthcare system has entered the chat. A severe shortage of physicians is coming for the U.S. Some estimates say the country could be missing upwards of 139,000 doctors within the next decade. But rather than focus on how to recruit and train the most gifted into the medical field, medical schools are chasing away top applicants in the name of DEI.

Consider the University of North Carolina. This taxpayer-funded institution established a task force to determine how to improve the medical school’s curriculum. The task force worked under the advice of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Ultimately, the task force determined that the curriculum didn’t do enough to teach future doctors about issues such as “Unconscious Bias Awareness,” “Understanding and Responding to Microaggressions,” and “Understanding that America's medical system is structurally racist.” In an effort to address these concerns, the university began implementing the task force's recommended policies in 2022.

Today, professors, staff, and students are all expected to be instructed on alleged systemic racism in healthcare. While learning biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology, medical students must also understand the latest microaggressions and unconscious bias offenses.

These policies are intended to make medical students into activists, not better physicians. And there’s also no evidence that these policies will improve the health of the communities they purport to help.

Most doctors, for example, have never taken a course on nutrition. Black Americans are disproportionately likely to be obese or suffer from other nutrition-related ailments such as diabetes. Both of these factors are key contributors to the shorter life expectancy of blacks when compared to other demographics.

A course aimed at improving black diets could improve black health and life expectancy. Instead, this new curriculum has students busy analyzing microaggressions.

Universities are not just injecting race politics into the curriculum. Diversity has also become a top factor in admissions. Medical schools throughout the country are working to grow the percentage of black and Hispanic doctors, even if it means turning away white or Asian students with higher GPAs and test scores. This is a key reason many universities have pulled themselves out of U.S. News and World Report's university rankings. It’s no surprise that lowering the incoming class’s GPA in the name of diversity would lower their overall ranking. Best not to compete at all than maintain a high standard for all students.

Unfortunately, this plan could backfire on black communities. Historically, physician shortages have made it more difficult for black patients to access primary care doctors.

Medical schools seem more concerned about whether their campus brochures look diverse than about ensuring hospitals with predominantly black patients have enough talented physicians to provide care.

Focusing on physical diversity rather than talent is a recipe for disaster. And while the academics pushing these absurd policies will continue to receive excellent healthcare at top hospitals, the average American will be left with doctors more prepared to treat potentially offensive insults than real diseases.

As the old saying goes, patients need doctors to help heal patients from sticks and stones, not from words deemed microaggressions. The University of North Carolina and other medical schools in the U.S. would be wise to focus on healing people rather than training activists.

Christian Watson is a spokesman for Color Us United , and the host of "Pensive Politics with Christian Watson." Dr. Amber Colville is a practicing physician in Mississippi.