The AAO Puts an Eye on DEI

Another day, another medical association caves to woke ideology. A tipster recently sent us an email from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in which the association commits to making identity politics a core part of its operations. What this information has to do with ophthalmology – the treatment of eye disorders – is never discussed.

The AAO email starts by saying it wants to reflect diversity in all its operations. But there’s a problem: AAO members aren’t required to disclose their demographic information. No problem: The Association wants every member to provide details on their race, gender, and other characteristics. The list includes gender identity, sexual orientation, and pronouns. 

What will this information be used for? To start, preferential treatment. The AAO intends to select “leaders, presenters, programs, and award recipients” based on their identity, as opposed to their achievements or objective qualifications. 

The AAO will also developing different “programs and services” it provides to its members. You can bet these new offerings will be less professional development, more political ideology, as we’ve seen with plenty of other medical associations. 

The only positive note is that members aren’t compelled to submit their information, nor will it be publicly displayed. But it remains to be seen how long those carve-outs last. If anything is clear about the woke takeover of healthcare, it’s that activists won’t stop until they dictate how all of medicine looks and works – from the physicians who get hired to the patients who get treated.