On the surface, the group that administers the MCAT seems to have left DEI behind. But behind the scenes, it’s working on plans to secretly push the ideology, an insider with knowledge of the situation tells The Daily Wire.
The Association of American Medical Colleges, which administers the medical school entrance exam and helps accredit medical schools, purged most DEI content from its website after a damning report from the nonprofit Do No Harm called the AAMC “the organization ruining medical education.”
But an AAMC insider tells The Daily Wire the organization is backtracking, telling employees to stay the course internally despite the outward changes.
“The AAMC has pushed DEI for about a decade. The leaders are not going to change their views overnight,” the AAMC employee explained. “Even though we now talk about it differently, the AAMC is still very much committed to DEI.”
An internal AAMC “language guidance” document obtained by The Daily Wire reveals that the organization is seeking to sanitize its messaging around DEI in order to avoid terms that “have become polarizing.”
The AAMC says it conducted research that found certain phrases “are widely misunderstood or misinterpreted,” including the terms “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” “historically marginalized groups,” and “systems of oppression.” Other terms that the AAMC warns against include “birthing people,” “anti-racism,” “minority,” and “inclusive excellence.”
Obtained by The Daily Wire
“Rather than use the frequently misinterpreted shorthand ‘DEI,’ be specific about the goals you understand those principles to support, such as solutions that lead to increased access to care for areas and populations that have been underserved,” the guide goes on to read.
In its report, Do No Harm revealed how the AAMC leveraged millions of dollars and its stature in the medical field to push DEI — embedding DEI in the medical school accreditation process, adding ideological questions to the MCAT, and approving race-based scholarships for medical schools.
Since then, the organization has removed webpages that discussed the group’s DEI agenda, including the AAMC’s “equity, diversity, and inclusion” page, which previously outlined the group’s DEI commitment and listed upcoming DEI trainings and seminars.
An AAMC report on “Creating Action to Eliminate Racism in Medical Education,” archived here, is no longer publicly available. A page on addressing racism in healthcare has been removed, and the organization has also taken down a page on its site that discussed demographic groups that are “underrepresented in medicine.”
Still, the insider alleges that various different leaders within the AAMC, including its CEO, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to DEI in a town hall earlier this year.
David Skorton, the AAMC CEO, told employees at the January town hall that the organization has “no plans to make a statement about DEI” and “no plans to eliminate our DEI cluster of employees,” the AAMC insider told The Daily Wire.
The sentiment was echoed by Danielle Turnipseed, the head of the AAMC’s Public Policy and Legislative Affairs branch. Turnipseed told employees “the important thing for us now is to get the work done and not make statements about [DEI]. We don’t want to spend time arguing with others about what we are doing. So, we want to focus on doing the work,” the employee explained.
“If we get investigated, we’ll handle it. We do the legal DEI,” added Frank Trinity, the AAMC’s Chief Legal Officer.
The AAMC did not respond to a request for comment.
