Do No Harm Letter to IRS Requesting Investigation into AMA Foundation’s Tax-Exempt Status

On April 7, 2026, Do No Harm filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), urging it to investigate whether the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation should have its tax-exempt status revoked for operating racially discriminatory scholarships. Within 10 days of Do No Harm’s complaint, the AMA Foundation quietly removed the discriminatory scholarships in question from its “Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship” program website.

The AMA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Medical Association, funds and oversees the Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship program, which provides various lucrative scholarships to third-year medical students. Most scholarship awards include prizes of up to $10,000 along with national recognition and access to resources and support.

However, as set forth in Do No Harm’s complaint, several of these scholarships specified explicit discrimination on the basis of race in violation of established public policy and civil rights laws prohibiting racial discrimination. For example, two of these AMA Foundation scholarships had specified eligibility requirements for certain racial minorities over other racial groups, while one scholarship preferred certain white racial groups over others.

Under Supreme Court precedent, having even one unlawful policy under 26 U.S.C § 501(c)(3), including a racially discriminatory policy, renders the entire organization ineligible for tax-exempt status.

While the AMA Foundation’s response to remove its discriminatory scholarships may seemingly acknowledge the fact that race-based discrimination is illegal, Do No Harm believes the IRS should still conduct its own investigation to confirm that the discriminatory scholarships have truly been eliminated—not just rebranded or reconstituted.