Commentary

AAMC Pushes Race-Based Recruitment Tool Post-SCOTUS Ruling

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • December 18, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the use of race-based admissions practices isn’t constitutional in higher education settings, including medical schools. But the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) continues to promote a recruiting tool that aggregates information on medical school applicants who “self-identify as being from groups historically underrepresented in medicine or who are economically disadvantaged.”

The AAMC, which oversees the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and cosponsors the accrediting body for all medical schools, appears to be continuing in their efforts to find ways to undermine the Court’s landmark ruling.

Do No Harm obtained a screenshot from the MCAT registration platform describing the “Medical Minority Applicant Registry” (Med-MAR), which requires the applicant to provide specific information about his or her race and ethnicity. The registrant must opt-in to this service, which AAMC says “enhances admission opportunities for students from groups historically underrepresented in medicine.”

This description has not changed since at least April 2021, which is the first time the program’s webpage was archived.

Figure 1. Screen that candidates see when logging into the AAMC’s MCAT registration website.

“If you choose to participate in Med-MAR, your basic biographical information and your MCAT scores will be distributed to the minority affairs and admission offices of AAMC-member schools and to select health-related agencies whose mission is to increase opportunities for students historically underrepresented in medicine,” AAMC tells applicants from racial and ethnic political identity groups.

They indicate by omission that whites and Asians need not apply:

You are eligible if (a) you are a U.S. citizen, U.S. National, a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the United States (“Green Card” holder), or have been granted refugee/asylum or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status by the U.S. government, and (b) you are economically disadvantaged or of low socio-economic status (SES), or you self-identify as a member of a racial or ethnic group historically underrepresented in medicine–African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Interestingly, the AAMC offers a disclaimer for the Med-MAR system: “Med-MAR serves only as a means of identifying and communicating the availability of applicants from groups who self-identify as underrepresented in medicine and/or as economically disadvantaged. No attempt is made by Med-MAR to advise students where to apply or to influence any admissions decisions.”

As Do No Harm noted in August, AAMC continues to push ways to erode the Court’s ruling.

“Nothing in the Supreme Court decision compels us to deviate from our goal of diversifying the health care workforce,” AAMC CEO David Skorton said during a webinar with medical school leaders in July.

Strategies promoted by AAMC include:

  • Holistic review – a term that conceals the word “race” but urges medical schools to subjectively consider the “whole” applicant;
  • Essays penned by the applicants to evaluate strengths and experiences that might be related to their race; and
  • The development of strong relationships with undergraduate schools and community groups with a high percentage of racial and ethnic minorities.

Do No Harm has been following AAMC’s plunge into radical Critical Race Theory-inspired DEI practices for some time. And, because of its heavy influence over medical school officials, the organization has taken these institutions along with it.

In November 2022 – prior to the Court’s ruling against affirmative action policies – Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb, M.D. sounded the alarm that medical schools seeking accreditation were being coerced into expanding their woke practices.

In a survey of 101 institutions, Goldfarb wrote at the New York Post, AAMC asked schools to respond to 89 questions about whether they employ particular DEI practices.

The Do No Harm chairman revealed the results of AAMC’s “report card”:

All told, more than six out of 10 medical schools scored 80%. The Ohio State University College of Medicine audit shows a score of 93%, making it one of the most woke medical schools in America. Crucially, no institution scored lower than 50% — meaning virtually every medical school is implementing at least half the policies woke activists want.

Goldfarb observed at the time that medical schools have organized and well-funded bureaucracies in place pushing woke ideology on both faculty and students.

“These efforts take away time and money from actual education,” he asserted, adding:

The AAMC is pushing 100% of medical schools to score 100% in each category, and most are trending in that direction. This doesn’t bode well for the future of health care. Medical schools are broadly lowering standards for admissions, faculty and research while devoting a higher share of resources to political lobbying, politicized bureaucracy and public virtue signaling.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts noted that implementing “application essays or other means” is not a valid tactic for universities to get to the results they had prior to the decision ending race-based admissions. “In other words,” he continued, “the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual – not on the basis of race.” Workarounds such as these will undoubtedly be successfully challenged. Yet, considering AAMC’s continued use of the Med-MAR applicant registry service for specific racial and ethnic groups, not much has changed in this organization in the wake of the Court’s ruling.