AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer David A. Acosta, MD, sent the following open letter to its member medical schools, teaching hospitals and health systems, and academic societies:
“Throughout the country, we continue to be challenged with misinformation, disinformation, and misguided anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) actions that are confronting higher education and our academic medical institutions and that will harm the health of our communities. We want to underscore that the AAMC is here to support your efforts to lead in the name of diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice. Your commitment and dedication to this work is important, recognized, and lauded.
The DEI efforts in action at your institutions positively impact the health of communities across the country. For decades, your hard work has ensured the recruitment of diverse classes of talented learners – including medical, graduate, and PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and residents – and you have continued to develop and impart the best evidence-based education available. This is critical for all future physicians and scientists to build their knowledge foundation and skills to improve the health of patients and communities.
Your important work prepares tomorrow’s doctors and other health care professionals to be culturally responsive and consciously aware of the health care needs of society, including those who live in historically marginalized and under resourced communities.
This is all critical to achieving health equity for every community in the nation. We cannot afford to lose the progress we have made with our DEI initiatives nor the momentum to make further changes needed to achieve our vision of creating a healthier future for everyone.
The AAMC remains steadfast and committed to working together with you to address and mitigate, if not eliminate, the factors that perpetuate health inequities embedded in medicine and our health systems today. Together, we can achieve a future where all communities have an equal opportunity to thrive.”
Related Resources:
- AAMC Strategic Plan: Action Plan 4: Increase Significantly the Number of Diverse Medical School Applicants and Matriculants
- AAMC Strategic Plan: Action Plan 3: Equip Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems to Become More Inclusive, Equitable Organizations
- Race-Conscious Admissions in Medical Education
- Framework for Addressing and Eliminating Racism at the AAMC and Beyond
- Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Medical Education
- AAMC Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion