Commentary
UCSF Shows Where Every Med School Is Heading
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Kudos to the University of California San Francisco: It just showed America where every medical school is headed. We obtained a copy of its 2022 report of its Task Force on Equity and Anti-Racism in Research. The report makes clear that radical activists want a wholesale takeover of medical education.

UCSF is completely dedicated to medical and health sciences, yet since 2020, this task force has been devising plans to reorient the school’s mission. It’s specifically focused on research, which is a core component of UCSF’s work and affects everything from faculty hiring to teaching to grant funding.

The task force makes clear that UCSF is insufficiently woke, stating that it’s “abundantly clear that we have yet to create an approach to science that has diversity as foundational.” It further states that “Racism and inequity are embedded in this country and its healthcare and health research systems,” requiring a complete overhaul in the university’s research enterprise.

What, specifically, is the Task Force pushing UCSF to do? There are four things, each of which represents a departure from sound research and medical education.
- First, “establish a system of accountability on anti-racism and equity for the UCSF research enterprise.” This means creating a permanent woke bureaucracy that pushes UCSF faculty and staff to prioritize ideologically driven research.
- Second, “promote and support UCSF anti-racism scholarship.” This means evaluating and funding all clinical research through the lens of divisive and discriminatory ideology. The more extreme ideas will be more likely to proceed.
- Third, “create and support a more diverse UCSF research workforce.” This means hiring faculty and staff based on skin color instead of just expertise, which will lead to lower quality research.
- Fourth, “promote and support community engaged research.” This means prioritizing research and partnerships with ideological allies, instead of emphasizing the best possible research.

UCSF is all but certain to accept these demands. Together, they represent the replacement of hard science and research with a political agenda. Research funding should be based on presenting high quality proposals initiated by researchers, not activists. Anything less will undermine the integrity and quality of research upon which patients depend.

One final line from the task force report caught our eye:
“IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHILE MANY OF THE COMMENTS RECEIVED WERE CONSTRUCTIVE AND HELPFUL, TASK FORCE MEMBERS WERE TRAUMATIZED BY A STRIKING NUMBER OF COMMENTS THAT DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF INEQUITIES AND RACISM, AND OTHERS THAT MINIMIZED THE BURDEN THAT RACISM HAS IMPOSED.”
Translation: UCSF won’t tolerate any dissent, disagreement, or even discussion. It will only force divisive and even discriminatory ideas on faculty and staff alike.

This is the direction every medical school is headed: Coercion, censorship, and groupthink about identity politics, replacing cutting-edge medical research. Patients should be worried – and policymakers should be stepping up to stop this madness before it’s too late.