Med school weighed residents’ commitment to ‘anti-racist practices’ in admissions process

The University of New Mexico School of Medicine considered OBGYN residency applicants’ contributions to anti-racism and diversity during the interviewing process, according to a rubric obtained by Do No Harm, a group that focuses on ending anti-racism in health care.

Interviewers for the University of New Mexico School of Medicine awarded OBGYN residence applicants points based on their “experience and interest” in “equity, anti-racist and diversity, equity and inclusion practices,” according to a 2021-2022 interviewing rubric obtained by Do No Harm. Applicants were given points if they are a member of the “LGBTQIA+” community or are “African American, Latinx or Native American.”

“This residency interview scoring system should worry all Americans who may require healthcare,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, board chair of Do No Harm, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The only alphabet letters that are important in a physician are three A’s- ability, availability and affability. This is what prospective physicians should be judged on.”

Applicants also received points if they were multilingual and have an “intersection/identity including LGBTQIA+,” the document showed. It is unclear whether the rubric is still in use.

As a part of the interviewing process, applicants were asked how they “hope to integrate anti-racism” in their residency, according to the document. Applicants were graded on their experience advocating for social justice and vulnerable populations, including the “LGBTQIA+ and made marginalized communities.”

Higher education institutions across the country are using diversity, equity and inclusion standards to judge students and faculty; the University of San Diego School of Medicine shifted its curriculum in 2020 to work towards “dismantling racism.” The Association of American Medical Colleges released diversity, equity and inclusion guidelines advising schools to teach students how to consider their “identity, power and privilege” when practicing medicine.

“To downgrade the role of academic and intellectual qualifications in favor of particular political and social ideologies puts the quality of healthcare at real risk,” Goldfarb told the DCNF. “To focus on skin color or gender as the prime basis for entry into training programs corrupts the system and denies the centrality of patient welfare that should be the focus of all medical care.”

The University of New Mexico School of Medicine did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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