Commentary: Justice Dept. attack on UCLA and other med schools shows it has no idea what makes a good doctor

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The Trump administration has stepped up its assault on U.S.medical schools in recent days with stern letters to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA on May 6 and a similar missive to the Yale School of Medicine on Thursday.Both letters from the Department of Justice allege that the schools have quietly allowed the race of applicants to be a consideration in admissions, which the DOJ asserts to be a violation of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that found racial preferences in university admission policies to be unlawful.But these claims — and a legal filing the DOJ made in February to join a lawsuit accusing UCLA of illicit discrimination against white and Asian applicants — raise questions about its campaign against elite medical schools that the DOJ may not wish to answer.

Entire dimensions of physician quality — judgment, communication, professionalism, leadership, resilience, bedside manner, decision-making under pressure — are dismissed as irrelevant ‘woke’ distractions.— Terry L.Simpson, M.D.One is whether it has any conception of what it takes to make a good doctor.

The other is whether the DOJ is pursuing a fundamentally racist campaign aimed at keeping white advantages in higher education secure.The short answers, respectively, are no, and yes.

Let’s take a deeper look.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver.

You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.The DOJ’s attack on the medical schools is explicitly part of its campaign against “DEI” programs — those devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion.

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