Commentary
States Shouldn’t Let Accreditors Stop Them from Eliminating DEI at Med Schools
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Several states have recently taken action to scale back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at higher education institutions like medical schools. Schools may argue these programs are necessary for accreditation, citing standards that require education on diversity and health disparities, but these arguments don’t hold water.
Many medical schools have referred to accreditation standards from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the main accrediting body for medical schools in the U.S. and Canada, as justification for their DEI offices, initiatives, and curricula. Do No Harm previously obtained documents showing the LCME encouraging the University of Utah to fix its “unsatisfactory diversity” among the student body and faculty – all in order to meet its accreditation standards.
Yet in response to questions from the House Education Committee regarding its DEI requirements, the LCME clarified that its standards do not mandate any specific diversity programs or desired racial outcomes.
In other words, state lawmakers are free to remove woke ideology from their medical schools without risking the schools’ accreditation.
Now, there is a new potential point of confusion: the LCME’s “Structural Competence, Cultural Competence, and Health Inequities” requirement, or Element 7.6. The requirement states that medical schools teach about the importance and impact of health disparities, and teach the skills to practice medicine in a “diverse society.”
It’s clear from reading the plain text of the standards that this requirement does not force medical schools to maintain DEI programs or embed DEI into their pedagogy.
Specifically, the requirement ensures that medical school curricula include the following items:
- The diverse manner in which people perceive health and illness and respond to various symptoms, diseases, and treatments
- The basic principles of culturally and structurally competent health care
- The importance of health care disparities and health inequities
- The impact of disparities in health care on all populations and approaches to reduce health care inequities
- The knowledge, skills, and core professional attributes needed to provide effective care in a multidimensional and diverse society
Nowhere in these standards are DEI programs even mentioned, let alone required.
But beyond that, the LCME does not prevent state lawmakers from taking steps to stop medical schools from teaching divisive, erroneous, and/or regressive concepts, such as the narrative that the healthcare system is fundamentally racist.
In fact, the LCME has made clear that many woke narratives so commonplace in medical education are completely unrelated to its accreditation standards.
When asked by the House Education Committee if it requires or encourages medical schools to “teach that the American health care system is systemically racist,” the LCME replied “no.” The LCME also noted that it does not itself view the American healthcare system as racist.
Element 7.6, by its plain text, does not force medical schools to teach any such thing, nor does it mandate DEI initiatives and programs.
Element 7.6 is also by far the most detailed item in the LCME’s accreditation standards pertaining to curriculum content. While the other items regarding the actual teaching of medicine are far more general, the organization seems more concerned with providing specific guidance regarding the teaching of health equity.
Still, the LCME’s requirements leave plenty of room for interpretation, and the organization has signaled it does not encourage the most divisive woke ideologies.
Do No Harm has had success finding ways to meet similar standards while still eschewing divisive and woke concepts. To meet Michigan’s requirement that health professionals complete an implicit bias training program, Do No Harm created a course that provides evidence-based information on implicit bias without resorting to woke narratives.
State lawmakers should not be deterred by concerns over accreditation, and take action to rid these noxious programs from medical schools once and for all.
Then, medical schools can more effectively perform their true mission: teaching medicine.