Medical school accreditors surrender to Trump in battle over DEI

Several medical school accreditors appear to be abandoning their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as the Trump administration proves it means business.

Of the 11 major medical associations and accreditors identified in a new report released Thursday by Do No Harm, eight have modified or entirely suspended their DEI requirements for member institutions. The Trump administration has been attempting to root out the discriminatory practices for months, reminding schools that they are bound by civil rights law and cannot have policies that prefer certain groups of people over others.

“We are pleased that many of the accreditors responsible for injecting identity politics into medical education are backing off their DEI requirements,” Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, said in a statement. “While these early results are encouraging, there is still much work to be done to rid our institutions entirely of the rot of racial politics. Removing DEI from accreditation standards is necessary, but to fully reform medical education, schools must also abandon DEI in favor of merit everywhere it is found.”

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the only federally recognized MD program accreditor in the country and sponsee of the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges, previously required medical schools “to achieve mission appropriate diversity outcomes among its students” and for curricula to “provide opportunities for medical students to learn to recognize and appropriately address biases in themselves, in others, and in the health care delivery process,” according to Do No Harm’s report. Now, the accreditor has removed the first standard, though the second one remains.

LCME did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which is responsible for accrediting all medical residency and fellowship programs in the country, previously required program hosts to racially discriminate to maintain a “systematic recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive workforce,” the report states. The requirement has since been suspended, but one remaining requirement still asks residents to “demonstrate competence in incorporating considerations of value, equity, cost awareness, delivery and payment, and risk-benefit analysis in patient and/or population-based care.”

“The ACGME has heard significant concerns from multiple constituents in several states and from federal Sponsoring Institutions about their ability to comply with some of the ACGME requirements addressing diversity in light of state or federal laws,” the institution said in its announcement of the changing requirements.

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) revised its standards in June, removing requirements for schools to “ensure the selection of a qualified and diverse student body” and promote a “culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,” the report found. The revised standards now “use the term ‘diverse’ to refer to viewpoints and cultural perspectives,” Do No Harm said.

Schools administering Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degrees will no longer be forced to maintain DEI offices and programs and previously required, according to the revised standards of their accrediting agency, the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).

ACGME, ACPE and COCA did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME), the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA) have all also revised or suspended enforcement of their DEI requirements for schools, Do No Harm found. The American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA) is reviewing changes to its DEI requirements, which currently considers “college and program diversity when making accreditation decisions” and requires schools to have a diversity statement.

“This decision was made to ensure the accreditation system can continue to function effectively within current legal constraints, including state laws and new interpretations of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, and ultimately to protect the current students and graduates of psychology programs who would suffer the most if their institution lost its accreditation,” a spokesman for APA-CoA told the DCNF. “Note that institutions may continue to apply the standards specified but if they choose not to on the advice of their legal counsel, they will not lose APA accreditation.”

CPME, CAPTE and AVMA did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Despite many of the medical associations signaling compliance with the Trump administration, some remain committed to their DEI promise.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) still requires nurses to “demonstrate leadership skills to promote advocacy efforts that include principles of social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion” and “participate in ethical decision making that includes diversity, equity, and inclusion in advanced preparedness to protect populations,” Do No Harm found.

Dental schools are also still required by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) to “achieve appropriate levels of diversity among its students, faculty and staff; engage in ongoing systematic and focused efforts to attract and retain students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds; and systematically evaluate comprehensive strategies to improve the institutional climate for diversity,” the report found. Schools’ admission policies must also be “designed to include recruitment and admission of a diverse student population.”

The Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) states that optometric programs must “demonstrate that diversity and the concepts of equity and inclusion are reflected throughout the academic and clinical program,” the report found. ACOE even doubled down on its DEI commitment in March, insisting it “does not promote or incentivize actions by any program to give preferential treatment to any group” and therefore does not violate federal civil rights law.

“The Administration’s underlying concern with DEI programs relates to giving preferential treatment to some groups over others,” the memo reads. “The ACOE believes that its definitions of these terms do not introduce any risk or incentive to be applied in such a way as to result in preferential treatment.”

Just months earlier, Do No Harm found that medical schools have become increasingly laden with DEI jargon. Among the 158 medical school mission statements it reviewed, 77% contained some reference to DEI language. Many prominent medical schools have been exposed for having lower admissions standards for black students compared to white and Asian students or explicitly offering programs and scholarships for certain races or genders.

The stakes for medical schools racially gerrymandering their student bodies is high, having the potential to lead to less qualified doctors or higher student dropout rates, Goldfarb told the DCNF in June.

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reform accreditation standards in higher education, specifically calling out medical institutions such as LCME and ACGME for “requiring unlawful discrimination” from schools and future doctors. The administration has made clear its mission to expel discriminatory racial preference practices from schools and institutions receiving federal funding, placing dozens of schools under investigation in March for allegedly violating the law.

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