The University of Utah School of Medicine is Being Investigated for Race-Based Discrimination

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation of the Ophthalmology Fellowship for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. 

Do No Harm filed a complaint for race-based discrimination in the eligibility criteria for this program, which provides second-year medical students with $1,000 scholarships from the Moran Eye Center. Candidates must identify as “Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and/or Native American (American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian)” to apply. Excluding all other races and ethnicities is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.

The Moran Eye Center maintains a Committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). This committee promotes implicit bias testing and anti-racism training on its site, as well as Ibram Kendi’s publication How to Be an Anti-Racist in its book club section.

Have you been excluded from applying for a similar program at your school or healthcare organization due to race-based inclusion criteria? Please let us know; you may remain anonymous if you wish.