AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, issued the following statement on the U.S. District Court decision in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard:
“The AAMC is pleased that the U.S. district court has ruled in favor of Harvard University, concluding that its admissions process meets constitutional standards. The court’s decision re-affirms the educational benefits of diversity in the classroom and defers to the good-faith judgments of educators who strive to achieve those benefits for their students and for society as a whole. The decision bolsters the use of individualized, holistic review in admissions, based on each school’s mission and circumstances.
We view the court’s decision as reinforcing how medical schools conduct individualized evaluations of applicants, including personal interviews of every selected student. The AAMC will continue to support the work of medical schools as they craft and periodically review the impact of individualized review processes that are narrowly tailored to achieve each school’s unique educational mission. Through these rigorous and thorough selection processes, medical schools ensure that graduating physicians are prepared to practice medicine in an increasingly diverse society and to address the disparities that exist in today’s health care system.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members are all 154 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their more than 173,000 full-time faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.