The Danger of Elevating Diversity over Quality in Medicine

We now have even more evidence that a lowering of standards in service of diversity is doing real harm to the medical profession.

Diversity is good, but it should never come at the expense of quality. That’s especially true in fields like my own medical profession. For years, the medical establishment has relentlessly pushed to recruit more minorities into medical school. While a great many are highly qualified, a great many aren’t, yet the powers that be are lowering standards to let them in. A growing body of evidence demonstrates the danger of diversity gone wild. Yet when anyone points it out, they are brutally maligned as racist.

I know from experience. One year ago, I commented on a study that found that minority resident trainees in three major teaching hospitals performed less well than their white and Asian counterparts. The authors of that study posited that racism and bias were the only explanation. In response, I pointed out the possibility that the assessments may have been correct and that many of the minority residents did indeed perform less well. The blowback was as swift as it was severe.

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