Castle Connolly Doubles Down on Racial Concordance

Doctor-ranking company Castle Connolly is back at it again with the latest iteration of its report promoting discredited racial theories.

Recently, Castle Connolly announced the 2025 edition of its “Top Black Doctors” report which highlights the organization’s picks for the best black doctors in 2025; these 338 doctors were evaluated by the Castle Connolly research team.

“This distinction is designed to honor top clinicians and enable patients to find Castle Connolly Top Doctors who have shared backgrounds and experiences,” the report states.

Explicit in this message is the endorsement of the discredited notion that health outcomes improve when patients and physicians are of the same racial background, a dynamic called “racial concordance.” The existing research demonstrates that racial concordance is not associated with any improvements in health outcomes.

Castle Connolly is hardly the only medical organization to engage in these types of practices. Other purportedly reputable organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Association of American Medical Colleges have endorsed similar views in recent years.

Additionally, Castle Connolly has published previous “Top Black Doctors” reports, with Do No Harm covering these publications in 2024 and 2023.

Beyond the organization’s obsession with racially-focused medicine, the quote featured on their rankings page highlights a more deeply-rooted problem.

The quote by Dr. Jacqueline Jones states, “My inclusion on the Castle Connolly Top Black Doctors list has increased the diversity in my practice. Since the list came out, I have seen an increase in the number of Black professionals who are seeking out physicians of color to provide their care.”

This is a bizarre and disturbing sentiment, and sets a troubling precedent. We as a society should not be encouraging people to choose their physicians based on race. 

That is the road toward segregation and division, and is antithetical to principles of inclusion.