The University of Arizona College of Medicine is Implementing an Anti-Racist Curriculum This Summer

Things will be heating up even more than normal this summer at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix (UACOM) as it launches a new “anti-racist curriculum.”

The UACOM Curriculum Committee has approved the integration of anti-racism principles into its Doctor of Medicine program, which will take effect on July 1, 2023. The Educational Program Objectives (EPO) policy states that outcomes are linked to competencies developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), “forming the foundation of the educational curriculum.”  

Do No Harm obtained a copy of the UACOM Curriculum Committee’s approved additions to the EPOs in Action Step 7 of the Anti-Racist Curriculum, which includes the competency of Medical Knowledge. The original text of objective #7 is “Recognize patient-focused care that considers a patient’s diversity (race, sex, ethnicity, culture, ability, disability, socioeconomic status, talents, language, religion, spiritual practices, sexual orientation, gender identity, biological differences, geographic region, age, country of origin and life experiences).”

However, the Curriculum Committee isn’t satisfied with stopping at “diversity.” The updated objective will read:

Recognize patient-focused care that considers a patient’s diversity/intersectional identities* and social determinants of health such as structural racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, transphobia, etc.

To ensure there is no confusion about the terminology, “intersectionality” is defined after the asterisk:

*Leading feminist and social justice theories and practices acknowledge that intersectionality, first coined by Kimberle’ Crenshaw, as legal terminology to recognize the unique experiences and legal challenges of Black women whom as a group experienced both racism and sexism. It is the ongoing examination of the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that communities face based on race, gender, ethnicity, ability, etc. It is our role to continuously examine the multiple forms and kinds of intersectional exclusions. The call for an anti-racist health care system – one which recognizes and addresses the intersectionality of systems of oppression – amplifies every day.

(Association of American Medical Colleges. New and Emerging Areas in Medicine Series: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Competencies Across the Learning Continuum, July 2022).  

Is this really what passes as “medical knowledge” at the U of A College of Medicine? Arizona’s taxpayers and lawmakers need university administrators in the College of Medicine to explain why they are forcing their medical students to learn and practice discriminatory and divisive things in their curriculum. “Anti-racism” and “intersectionality” are ideologies invented and promoted by radical activists, not scientific facts based on the best available evidence. The University of Arizona, and other medical education programs that have surrendered their programs to the demands of the woke mob, must return to the business of learning how to recognize and treat illness and injury. The patients who will encounter these future doctors are depending on it.

If you are seeing a shift away from the science and toward wokeness in the healthcare curriculum at your school, Do No Harm wants to hear from you via our secure online portal.