Commentary

Wanted: Black Interns Only?

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • February 19, 2024

The incorporation of racial bias and race-based admissions into medical internships is, unfortunately, alive and well. A perfect example of these types of woke initiatives can be gleaned from the “GROW RegenMed Internship Program” sponsored by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM).

This internship program allegedly provides “crucial, early-career paid opportunities in the regenerative medicine sector for Black undergraduate and graduate students.” In fact, the very first eligibility requirement listed on the internship application is that “Interns must identify as Black/African American.”

Figure 1. Eligibility requirements of the ARM’s GROW Student Intern Application.

ARM’s GROW RegenMed Internship Program was originally launched in 2021 with 17 inaugural interns. According to a press release at the time, the internship program was the product of ARM’s “Action for Equity Task Force” formed “in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.”

ARM claims to be the “leading international advocacy organization championing the benefits of engineered cell therapies and genetic medicines for patients, healthcare systems, and society” representing “more than 400 members across 25 countries”. The organization is structured as a 501(c)4 organization, meaning it is designated as tax-exempt by the IRS. In 2022, the organization generated more than $15 million in revenue and recorded nearly $14.5 million in expenses, including roughly $620,000 in compensation to its outgoing CEO.

ARM is not the only organization incorporating racially-based admissions or hiring programs in recent years.  Do No Harm previously published an exclusive report highlighting how racial, ethnic, and gender-based factors were growing in prevalence at medical schools, such as the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Similarly, a Do No Harm analysis of the 2024 American Medical College Application Services (AMCAS) reported how identity politics were seeping their way into decisions related to the acceptance of candidates. And, perhaps most notably, earlier in 2024 Do No Harm agreed to settle its lawsuit brought against Vituity’s Bridge to Brilliance Program­–an initiative that incentivized black doctors, including through $100,000 sign-on-bonuses—after the company ended its incentive program.

Additionally, Do No Harm has filed multiple complaints with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Offices of Civil Rights (OCR) regarding similar discriminatory practices in the medical field. In 2023 alone, Do No Harm filed 150 federal civil rights complaints with the DOE and HHS OCRs, resulting in 40 federal civil rights investigations. Several of these investigations resulted in favorable decisions to remove discriminatory practices, whereas others led to the institutions of higher education quietly scrubbing their websites of the questionable programs. As was the case with Vituity and these OCR complaints, ARM’s internship program raises serious questions about compliance with federal civil rights laws, equal protection, and even the Affordable Care Act. At best, however, the program is a case-in-point example of how woke ideology has deeply infiltrated the medical field. Other medical organizations would do well to avoid following ARM’s lead. Instead, candidates for internships should be selected on the basis of their merits, not their racial or ethnic background. Do No Farm Founder Dr. Goldfarb put it best: “Patients want and deserve the best doctors and the best medical care regardless of skin color or the racial makeup of their physician.”