Report finds med students at Wisconsin college forced into DEI ‘Race Matters’ training
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) subjected medical students to a mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshop in early October, according to documents obtained by the nonprofit Do No Harm.
Learning objectives required students to '[d]emonstrate knowledge of inherent biases and how they affect the way we interact with patients and advocate for them.'
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in Milwaukee required medical students to attend a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshop in October, according to documents obtained by the nonprofit Do No Harm.
The “Race Matters Workshop,” embedded within MCW’s “The Good Doctor” course on professionalism and ethics, featured learning objectives requiring students to “[d]emonstrate knowledge of inherent biases and how they affect the way we interact with patients and advocate for them.”
The workshop also tasked students with reading a Wisconsin Public Health Association resolution declaring “Racism is a Public Health Crisis” and subjected them to activities including a video titled “Allegories on Racism” and a quiz on “equity/diversity awareness.”
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, condemned the workshop in a statement to Campus Reform.
“The Medical College of Wisconsin has it all wrong. The purpose of medical education is not to train social justice warriors, but rather to develop competent, professional physicians,” Goldfarb stated. “Yet, classes like the ‘Race Matters Workshop’ divert attention from learning how to provide high-quality care and instead push a political agenda.”
Goldfarb added that the workshop “propagates the debunked claim that ‘implicit biases’ contribute to health disparities. Such false assertions sow unnecessary mistrust into the doctor-patient relationship and have no place in medical education.”
The MCW workshop comes as medical schools nationwide face mounting scrutiny over DEI initiatives. In October, Do No Harm launched the Center for Accountability in Medicine, which ranks medical schools based on academic rigor and avoidance of divisive identity politics.
The center’s Medical School Excellence Index found that the lowest-ranked institutions “do not prioritize academic excellence in admissions, dedicate administrative resources to divisive, harmful, and regressive DEI practices.”
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Meanwhile, some elite institutions are quietly retreating from DEI branding. In June, Harvard Medical School renamed its DEI office to “Culture and Community Engagement,” with Dean George Daley acknowledging the school is “navigating in an ever-morphing environment that requires frequent adaptation.”
Medical education accreditors have also backed away from DEI mandates following President Trump’s January executive orders targeting such practices.
A Do No Harm report from earlier this year stated that seven of 10 major accrediting bodies “have either eliminated diversity requirements, proposed eliminating diversity requirements, or pledged to not enforce these requirements.”
Campus Reform has contacted the Medical College of Wisconsin and Do No Harm for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
