The Rising Wokeness of Medical School Mission Statements

When people show you who they are, believe them. The same is true of medical
schools. When they write mission statements articulating their values and priorities,
view those documents as real indications of the direction those organizations are
headed.

Based on our analysis of the mission statements of 158 MD-granting medical
schools in the United States, the direction those organizations are headed is
toward a greater commitment to “wokeness.” In 2024, 77 percent of medical school
mission statements could be characterized as “woke,” up from 68 percent only
three years earlier. There was no meaningful change in the scientific emphasis of
those mission statements during the same period.

Higher ranked medical schools were more likely to increase the wokeness of their
mission statements between 2021 and 2024. But the partisan leanings of the
states in which medical schools are located were uncorrelated with changes in the
wokeness of mission statements. Medical school mission statements are related
to national status but are unrelated to the preferences of state policymakers.

Continue reading below.