Somewhere in my files from 10 or so years ago I have a report warning that while new doctors were graduating with excellent skills for doctor-patient interactions they nevertheless had dangerously inadequate knowledge of basic human anatomy. “Diversity, equity and inclusion” dictates put patients at further risk even if for no other reason than by virtue of time displacement in busy curriculum schedules.
Found it! My brilliant filing system …
Heller Files March 31, 2010:
“MEDICAL students at some universities are receiving minimal training in anatomy, undergoing as little as 56 hours in a five-year course - 10 times less than their counterparts at other institutions. A comparison of anatomy tuition at 19 medical schools found enormous variations in teaching time, ranging from 85 up to 560 hours across some six-year courses, and as low as 56 hours among five-year degree programs - even though four-year courses managed to offer at least 75 hours. The research - triggered by recent controversies over newly graduated doctors' shrinking anatomical knowledge - also found most staff who taught anatomy were not senior doctors, but instead non-clinical staff who included physiotherapists and even other medical students. Further, more than half of medical schools did not set a minimum level of achievement for their students in anatomy and did not separately mark it. Several universities admitted this meant students could do "very poorly" in their anatomy studies, but could still progress and graduate if they did well in other disciplines.”
Ban DEI Quackery in Medical Schools
A new bill would deny money to institutions that engage in the worst practices.
By Greg Murphy and Stanley Goldfarb, March 18, 2024
The ideology of “diversity, equity and inclusion” is dangerous everywhere, but especially in medical education. Its influence has become entrenched nationwide. Accrediting institutions are pushing all of America’s 158 accredited medical schools to train future physicians in political activism, wasting precious time and resources that could be spent on rigorous coursework and preparation for medical practice. The result will likely be future physicians less qualified to meet patients’ needs.
To restore medical education to its life-saving mission, Congress should ensure that taxpayer dollars don’t fund its decline. One of us, Rep. Murphy, will introduce the Educate Act on Tuesday. It would eliminate all federal funding, including student loans, for medical schools that engage in the worst DEI practices. Schools would have to agree to the following:
• No racist teaching. Medical schools teach about “intersectionality,” “colonization” and “white supremacy” while promoting the idea that people are either “oppressors” or “oppressed.” These concepts push medical students to treat patients differently based on race, sex or “gender identity.” In 2021 two physicians proposed giving preferential treatment to “Black and Latinx heart failure patients” at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
• No racial discrimination. Medical schools increasingly offer scholarships, classes and programming designed for—and sometimes available only to—students of specific races. This includes “affinity groups” students can join voluntarily, as well as classes that segregate students for the sake of learning.
• No loyalty oaths. Medical schools routinely require applicants and faculty to write DEI statements as a condition of acceptance or employment. Such requirements violate freedom of speech and eviscerate merit. Schools reject candidates for not being “progressive” enough while choosing others for their devotion to DEI.
• No DEI offices. Most medical schools have a department, team or office dedicated to DEI. These bureaucracies exist to spread a divisive ideology across campus, from the curriculum to extracurricular activities.
In addition to denying federal money to schools that engage in these practices, the Educate Act would prevent accrediting organizations, such as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Association of American Medical Colleges, from requiring DEI education at medical schools.
Lawmakers and the public should recognize DEI for what it is: a dangerous and contagious philosophy. Until Congress takes action, this ideology will continue to corrupt the institutions that train physicians. Medicine and the people it’s meant to serve will suffer.
Dr. Murphy is a practicing urologist. A Republican, he represents North Carolina’s Third Congressional District. Dr. Goldfarb, a nephrologist, is chairman of Do No Harm.
My thanks to the Wall Street Journal … and conservative Condorito
Dr Michael G. Heller