Watchdog Organization Questions Ethics of Medical School Curriculum Fixated on Race

Laura Morgan, program manager for Do No Harm. (Courtesy of Do No Harm).

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.

“Do No Harm’s new comprehensive report on The Ohio State University College of Medicine raises critical questions about the school’s fixation on the divisive concept of anti-racism and its impact on the integrity of future physicians,” DNH’s Program Manager, Laura Morgan, told The Epoch Times.

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.”

“We know that future physicians need to be prepared to serve a diverse patient population and that diverse communities benefit when physicians come from diverse backgrounds,” said Dr. Demicha Rankin, associate dean for admissions, in the brochure.

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.

‘Bold New Curriculum’

The university’s fixation on race expands into support for social justice, LGBTQ+ inclusion, climate change, and COVID-19 vaccination initiatives.

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.

OSUMC uses the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure what it calls “unconscious bias,” a test that DNH says doesn’t align with legitimate scientific standards.

“For example, the IAT’s test-retest reliability (the extent to which it produces similar results when taken more than once) is well below the normal academic standards for real-world applications,” DNH writes. “This metric is one that psychologists particularly look for when evaluating the reliability of a test that is taken in a single sitting.”

Divisive literature, podcasts, and other media are promoted, such as the recommended reading of “The 1619 Project,” “White Fragility,” and “How to be an Anti-Racist,” each of which isn’t medical literature but allegations of systematic racism in society and throughout history.

According to its “bold new curriculum,” medical students contribute to the problem of health inequities with their “unexamined beliefs.”

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.

“By presenting information to medical students based on an ideology that calls for ongoing discrimination, the OSU College of Medicine risks compromising the quality of medical education and, ultimately, patient care,” Ms. Morgan said. “Considering the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on affirmative action, OSUCOM and other leading institutions must closely examine their priorities in making their admissions processes align with meritocracy and equality, not radical identity politics like anti-racism.”

Social Justice Activists or Physicians?

According to the DNH report, the medical university has engaged in a campaign to indoctrinate its students, investing in “countess resources” to bombard students with radical ideologies, leaving future patients with even more dwindling options.

“Patients will need to decide if they want social justice changemakers or if they’d prefer doctors trained in medical sciences who can heal the sick or injured,” DNH writes in its conclusion.

The Epoch Times contacted OSU for comment.