Commentary

Uptick in Osteopathic Adherence to DEI

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • April 19, 2024

The field of osteopathic medicine may have been slow to initially jump on the DEI bandwagon, but, unfortunately, it appears that is quickly changing. The Northwest Osteopathic Medical Foundation is the latest entity to incorporate the DEI ideology into its organizational practices through discriminatory means.

The Foundation, located in Oregon, is a nonprofit organization that grants scholarship and other forms of aid to aspiring Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs). One of these scholarships—the “Scholarship To Support Students of Color from Historically Underrepresented Groups (HUG)”—has employed blatantly discriminatory criteria. According to the scholarship’s description, “In general, our scholarship is intended to support osteopathic medical school students identifying themselves as African American and/or Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), Pacific Islander, and/or mainland Puerto Rican.”

In justification of this criteria, the organization claims in a quote from one supporter, that “…having a physician one can trust often means having a physician who looks like you. If you do not trust your physician, you will not seek preventative care, will not follow instructions, and will not have the best health outcomes.”

Figure 1. Northwest Osteopathic Medical Foundation HUG scholarships information.

If interpreted literally, this statement could be taken to mean that white doctors should treat white patients, black doctors should treat black patients, and so on. The fact that such a racially-charged statement could appear on an academic scholarship’s page in 2024 is truly shocking. However, this is yet another example of how the disproven concept of racial concordance—which advocates doctors and patients being of the same racial background—has infiltrated modern medicine.

In fact, the Foundation asks its applicants to submit “selfie-style” videos as part of the application process, which could very well be used to help screen for certain racial groups, given the stated purpose behind the grant.

The organization also has a similar grant program titled the “Scholarship To Support LGBTQ+ Healthcare”. Again, the organization makes it clear that this scholarship is for one group of students only, based on their sexual orientation or which gender they identify as. And since the organization is structured as a 501(c)3, donations to support these DEI-based programs are tax deductible.

While the Foundation is hardly the first entity to adopt discriminatory application criteria, it represents a recent alarming spike in such incidents among osteopathic organizations. This is likely, in part, attributable to pressure or signaling from the top-down. As Do No Harm previously reported, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) requires osteopathic medical schools to include an adherence to DEI in its mission, designate an individual as responsible for DEI initiatives, publish a strategic plan that includes the advancement of DEI, and much more.

As a result, it is of no huge surprise that DEI ideology has begun to rear its head at osteopathic medical organizations again and again over the last year and a half. One school—the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine—has even found itself the subject of a federal civil rights investigation as a result of its actions.

Thankfully, however, there have been some isolated cases of good news. For example, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on affirmative action, Sam Houston State University’s osteopathic college indicated its intention to “…completely remove race and ethnicity from the system until after offers are sent.” Yet, these types of positive shifts are still few and far between.

Until and unless osteopathic medicine—starting with leadership and organizations at the very top—indicates a shift in their thinking away from allegiance to DEI, these concerning programs are only likely to become even more prevalent. It is time for these organizations to be held accountable and for their racial theories from the early 20th century to be cast aside.