Association of American Medical Colleges hosts workshop that calls on DEI to be 'embedded in everything'

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recently hosted an “allyship” seminar in which it rolled out a new agenda advocating for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to be “embedded in everything.”

The seminar, which AAMC offered as a sequence of two workshops, highlighted the impact of so-called “microaggressions” in the medical field, stressing the need for research that investigates their relationship to other medical phenomena, according to The Daily Wire.

“Experiences of bias, harassment and microaggressions is an expanding area of focus for faculty, administrators, and leaders in the health professions as awareness of the enormous prevalence of these experiences has increased,” the workshop description read. “Research on microaggressions and bias has shown to have significant negative impacts on individual confidence, physical health, and overall wellbeing. Therefore, more education and training on responding to microaggressions through bystander intervention is sorely needed in academic medicine.”

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One of the workshop’s presenters, Ohio State University professor of English Andrea Williams, gave a presentation about being an “ally” in the medical space. The Daily Wire reported that she described allies as being “men or nonbinary people who feel comfortable in a setting focused on men’s transformational learning participate in a facilitated session to become active proponents of equity.” 

Several organizations have criticized the workshop, including Do No Harm (DNH), a conservative medical non-profit group.

“As people outside the bubble of academia become more aware of the endless number of DEI initiatives that the AAMC has spent tens of millions of dollars to push instead of promoting science-based medical education, the public’s trust will dwindle,” DNH Senior Director of Programs Laura Morgan told the Daily Wire.

“People want competent physicians who are dedicated to improving the health of their patients and I’m sure the leadership of the AAMC would want the same; a physician that is able to accurately address their urgent medical needs, rather than being an ‘equity champion.’”

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Founded in 1876, the AAMC is one of the world’s largest medical non-profit organizations. Its mission centers around “transforming health through medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations.” AAMC also is responsible for administering the MCAT, the primary standardized test used by medical schools when making admissions decisions.

Campus Reform has reached out to the AAMC for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.