New Med School Guidance Teaches Students To Consider ‘Intersectionality,’ ‘Anti-Racism’ When Treating Patients

New Med School Guidance Teaches Students To Consider ‘Intersectionality,’ ‘Anti-Racism’ When Treating Patients

Reagan Reese on July 19, 2022

A national medical association released new diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) guidelines for medical schools to teach students to consider their “privilege” and patients’ “intersectionality” when providing treatment.

The July 14 report “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Competencies Across the Learning Continuum,” by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), is a three-stage DEI guidance for medical schools. Schools are advised to teach medical students and professionals to consider their “identity, power and privilege” when assessing and treating patients.

Students are taught to be role models of “anti-racism,” the report states. The guidelines state that understanding their privilege can “improve interactions” with patients and families of the patients.

The guidance also recommends that physicians “address social determinants of health affecting patients and communities,” according to the report. Students are trained to recognize their “explicit and implicit biases” that may hinder their clinical decisions.

Faculty physicians are expected to advocate for “social justice” in the final stage of the DEI guidance, the report states.

The guidance comes as various industries push to implement DEI programs since the 2020 killing of George Floyd; in 2021, the NCAA eliminated their standardized test requirements to advance “racial equity” while the state of California spent nearly $500 million on DEI curriculums in K-12 education and higher education between 2020 and 2022.

The AAMC advises 171 U.S. and Canadian medical schools through “medical education, health care, medical research,” according to the AAMC website. AAMC member schools have access to the standards and are encouraged to implement them.

The Association of American Medical Colleges did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.