The Medical School Mission statement is increasingly stacked in the language of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and social justice, a report released Monday found.
Do No Harm, a medical advocacy organization working to protect DEIs and other political topics from medicine, reviewing mission statements from 158 medical schools and found that in 2024 77% could be classified as “awakening.” The report also found that “higher ranked medical schools are likely to increase their mission proficiency.”
“There are desirable qualities in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, but when these terms are presented together in the context of mission statements, they are markers of a particular worldview,” reads the report. “Its 'awakening' worldview shows an important departure from the traditional American emphasis on personal responsibility and equal treatment that supports emphasis on group identity and differentiated treatment by social society rather than social justice. ”
According to DNH, the Columbia School of Medicine's previous benign statement had once promised to “prepare graduates to be leaders and role models to become leaders and role models.” In 2024, the statement expanded from 87 to 567 words, including a band of left-wing terms such as “anti-racism, inclusion, diversity, and equity.”
“It officially launched in 2021 [Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons] “Anti-Racist Coalition (ARC), an interdisciplinary effort to promote a culture of sustainable inclusion and diversity by students and staff,” the statement boasts. “Its ongoing goal is to create, recruit and strengthen anti-racist education systems and practices, supporting equity and justice across the VP&S learning environment.”
Continuing construction of New York Presbyterian North Manhattan Field Hospital at the Baker Athletic Complex at Columbia University on April 11, 2020. New York City remains the epicenter of the US coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)
Similarly, at the University of Massachusetts, the former bright science-focused statement detailing its commitment to “eliminating health disparities and establishing health equity” and “diversity and inclusion.”
A 2024 statement from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine previously revolved around “a four multiple mission to teach, heal, search and serve.” Now they are advocating for “commitment to diversity and health equity.”
“There's Clarion's call for social justice, diversity, equity and promotion of inclusion in our society. We agree with this well-known statement: who else? When, if not now?” reads the University of Maryland School of Medicine Mission Statement. “Together, we will continue to listen and educate you on any form of bias that contributes further to systemic racism and structural barriers to success for all, legislative and policy issues, economic inequality, access to health care, and the cumulative disadvantages of marginalized groups.”
At the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, prospective students will use a “aggregate disadvantaged score” to mark the distance “with pure mileage, distance for each application” using “a university that provides training related to diversity and inclusion, implicit bias, and anti-racism”, “using socioeconomic unfavorable scores”, and “holistic admissions assessments”. In its statement, the school argues that “we are committed to fostering a safe learning environment that can support all students focused on historically medical underrepresented groups, and develop diversity in an inclusive, accepting and productive way.”
The UC Davis statement also includes a spelling error writing “LEAD” instead of “LED”.
DNH also found that a Georgetown University School of Medicine statement “refers to justice five times, but never mentions research, excellence or truth.” The statement also declared its “commitment to social justice” and said it was “sticking to its ongoing commitment to eliminating all forms of racism across campus, led by the values of racial justice and health equity.” (Related: Exclusive: Conservative organizations lay out roadmap to rebuild America's collapsed education system)
“The fact that dozens of medical school mission statements have woken up significantly between April 2021 and December 2024, and that dozens more are approaching their biggest awakening raises questions about whether it is possible for medical schools to maintain this awakened focus. And if they maintain this awakened enthusiasm, how much does medical costs cost?” the report concluded. “Promoting social and political agendas among medical students is at the expense of excellence. At one point, patients, hospitals and insurance companies will be wary if doctors demand a rebalance of priorities if they are at a stronger command of the ideological doctrine than medicine.”
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