As KMOX reported earlier this week, some Missouri legislators are making an effort to ban required diversity trainings in medical schools. The bill, deemed the "Do No Harm Act," was introduced by Representative Ben Baker. It would ban medical schools from requiring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training for students, employees or applicants.
"There's some institutions that are tossing out merit when it comes to becoming a doctor, lowering standards in some situations as well," Baker said. He also reportedly told KZRG radio in Joplin that it's even gotten hard to find a white doctor these days because of the "woke agenda."
"If you're a white male, it's almost impossible to get into a medical school in this state," he told the station. (According to AAFP, 51% of medical students in 2021 were white.)
Dr. David Lenihan, CEO of Ponce Health Sciences University, tells KMOX he disagrees with Representative Baker's claims, and points to the benefits of diversity in medicine. He said that especially when it comes to socioeconomic status, Baker's claims are wrong.
"We know that when the doctor and the patient have a better relationship, that the outcomes are significantly better in how the patient responds to the treatment," he said. "And in order to make that happen and make that better, we also know that if you take students from those areas, that outcome becomes better."
Some anti-DEI legislators have criticized medical schools for not basing admissions off of MCAT scores, or at least not taking them into account as heavily. Dr. Lenihan said he doesn't see that as a problem.
"I find the MCAT to be very limited in its ability to predict how a student and a future doctor will actually perform when they're seeing patients," he said. Getting rid of the MCAT, he explained, also gives students from lower-income backgrounds a better chance even if they don't have the same access to resources as their wealthier counterparts.
Plus, he added, "every medical student has to pass the boards; there is no decay in the quality of education. I think that statement from the representative is inaccurate, because we have national standards that the people have to take — what we need to do is start looking at the outcomes, meaning how well are the patients getting treated."
Hear more from Dr. David Lenihan of Ponce Health Sciences University on the benefits of DEI in medical schools:
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