Med School Goes Full Woke

A top-ranked medical school has gone “full woke” with revised guidelines for appointment, reappointment, and promotion of faculty that include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training as well as making a “positive contribution to DEI efforts.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine policy change, in effect since May 2021, means the staff has to endure subjective indoctrination in DEI and also materially demonstrate acceptance of DEI doctrine through active participation in the propagation of the doctrine, such as materials provided to students.

The move is not surprising: many insurers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well as medical boards of some states, now require so-called “cultural competency training.” U.S. News ranks the UNC medical school number 24 in research and number 3 in primary care. It has 1,819 full-time faculty members.

’An Inclusive Approach’

The Oregon Medical Board’s website, for example, states the OMB “considers continuing medical education (CME) in cultural competency to be relevant to the current practice of all licensees, and licensees may use this type of continuing education toward satisfying the required CME hours for license renewal.”

The website states “inequities in access to quality health care are apparent,” further claiming “racial and ethnic populations, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, low literacy level individuals, and rural Oregonians experience severe health disparities according to the Oregon Health Authority’s Office of Equity and Inclusion.”

It identifies training in cultural competency as one tool to bridge this gap, improve health outcomes and enhance patient safety, and describes cultural competency continuing education as “a life-long process of examining values and beliefs while developing and applying an inclusive approach to health care practice in a manner that recognizes the context and complexities of provider-patient interactions and preserves the dignity of individuals, families, and communities.”

Proof of Indoctrination

The University provides a non-exclusive list of activities an applicant could use on his or her curriculum vitae (C.V.) to demonstrate what it calls a “positive contribution” to the promotion of the DEI doctrine. Examples include lectures on the subject and DEI-themed CME courses.

Put simply, a candidate or applicant must demonstrate overt acceptance of an approved doctrine promoting concepts of innate racial bias and social justice in order to be eligible for appointment, reappointment, or promotion.

These stated concepts are part and parcel of the “critical race theory” doctrine promoted by the left as though it were scientific fact. Among the related concepts of this doctrine is “implicit bias,” which presumes whites are prejudiced against people of color. Other buzzwords associated with CRT are inclusion, diversity, equity, and social justice, all of which are echoed in the UNC guidelines.

‘Stereotypes a Patient’

DEI policies are damaging, says Diana Blum, M.D., a fellow at FAIR in Medicine, a nonpartisan professional group that promotes ethical standards in medical practice.

“Anytime a physician stereotypes a patient based on immutable characteristics, inevitable harm may arise,” said Blum. “Teaching physicians that people of color are perpetual victims trapped in a rigged system they have no control over robs them of personal agency, thus promoting a learned helplessness, which only increases both mental and physical health morbidity.”

“[S]ystematically dismissing alternative explanations for health care disparities limits a physician’s ability to formulate an accurate differential diagnosis, thus increasing the likelihood of delayed or inappropriate medical care,” said Blum.

Other Factors Cause Disparities

Woke policies fail to address real problems, says Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., a resident scholar at the Institute for Policy Information.

“There have long been disparities in the U.S. health care system but in recent decades those are mostly related to low incomes and lack of health insurance, language barriers, jobs that aren’t conducive to taking time off to see a physician, and living in medically underserved areas, rural and urban,” said Matthews.

“Infusing political ideology into medical education for the pursuit of ‘equity’ in medical outcomes assumes that all individuals of a certain color are the same,” said Blum. “This punishes individual human beings today for societal wrongs of the past and erodes trust in the doctor-patient relationship.”

‘Diversity of Thought’

Diversity and equity issues are already being resolved, says Matthews. “The good news is that the number of women and minorities in medical school has been increasing,” said Matthews. “Interestingly, during the pandemic health care professionals have been actively seeking ways, some of which have been very creative, to identify and reach out to minority and low-income populations to expand vaccinations.”

UNC’s actions could discourage some of the best physicians from taking jobs there, says Matthews. “Why burden themselves with additional meetings and bureaucratic oversight and scolding when they can continue to help patients on a daily basis,” said Matthews.

DEI doctrines could have negative effects on health care, says Blum. “The medical profession must be founded on scientific excellence and integrity based on the principles of the scientific method, where collective truth is achieved through open and honest discourse evolved from data and diversity of thought for the betterment of humanity,” said Blum.

“Instead of cultivating the art and science of healing by developing critical thinking skills, students are pressured into becoming social justice warriors afraid to speak up for fear of ruining their future medical careers,” said Blum. “Patients are the ones who ultimately suffer.”