Watchdog Organization Questions Ethics of Medical School Curriculum Fixated on Race

A woke watchdog organization is questioning the ethics of a divisive curriculum proclaiming students as inherently racist.

Do No Harm (DNH) has published a July report (pdf) on the Ohio State University College of Medicine (OSUCM) outlining the college’s adoption of discriminatory concepts taught to students.

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OSUCM students are urged to view the practice of medicine through a racial lens, relying on social justice theories to produce not only health professionals but “agents of social change,” the report states.

“At The Ohio State University College of Medicine, we strive to be a national leader of inclusive excellence by delivering on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging among all faculty, staff and learners,” OSUCM states on its website. “To that end, we are committed to [ensuring] that our students experience learning environments and curricula that are antiracist and free of bias.”

Distorting the practice of medicine, the OSUCM focuses its attention on how to treat racial groups of people instead of individuals, DNH says, employing what it calls “changemakers” to carry out a health equity agenda.

“The term health equity sounds harmless, but it is actually an attack on core principles that medical practitioners have traditionally observed,” DNH’s report states. “Under health equity, medical personnel must evaluate everything through the lens of race or identity rather than using their assessment and analysis skills to promote each particular patient’s well-being.”

OSUMC’s “Diversity and Inclusion” brochure (pdf) describes its criteria for selecting future medical students based on “a holistic review and selection process in which student background, experience and other personal characteristics and attributes are considered in addition to his or her quantitative measures, such as GPA and MCAT scores.”

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The brochure lists programs providing financial assistance to non-white students, which DNH says goes against the school’s own College of Medicine Anti-Discrimination Policy and is an “obvious violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” for which DNH has filed a federal civil rights complaint to challenge the college’s policy.

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It also encourages a “21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge” (pdf) that prompts students to take actions that the challenge says will help them comprehend the structure of power, privilege, supremacy, systematic racism, oppression, and equity.

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These students are instructed to confront their own implicit bias and given guidelines on how to speak to black people, what to ask them, and what not to ask them.

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