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The Los Angeles Times may dismiss labeling UCLA a “failed medical school” as a mere “right-wing meme,” but as someone intimately acquainted with hospitals due to a congenital heart defect, the prospect of underqualified physicians overseeing my care, especially for another open-heart surgery, has haunted me for years. For me, the fact that UCLA is prioritizing racial diversity in admissions is no mere meme—it’s a deeply concerning reality that strikes at the core of patient safety and quality healthcare.
A May 23 Powerline article revealed UCLA lowered admission standards for black students in the pursuit of diversity. Writer, columnist, and former editorial writer for the San Jose Mercury News, Joanne Jacobs, reported that “UCLA has become a ‘failed medical school’ because it ‘cut corners’ to achieve racial diversity. And faculty members with firsthand knowledge of the admissions process” told the Washington Free Beacon “it has prioritized diversity over merit, resulting in progressively less qualified classes that are now struggling to succeed.”
And UCLA is not a lone player in the diversity stacking game. Two years ago, John Sailer of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) reported that the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine was caught executing its very own social justice playbook—translation: favoring race over merit.
Sailer has since unearthed a treasure trove of evidence suggesting that the specter of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) isn’t confined to medical schools; it’s lurking in the halls of professional medical workplaces, including the esteemed National Institutes of Health—a place where I receive treatment.
“Thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Cornell University is able to support several professors in fields including genetics, computational biology and neurobiology,” Sailer wrote. “In its funding proposal, the university emphasizes a strange metric for evaluating hard scientists: Each applicant’s ‘statement on contribution to diversity’ was to ‘receive significant weight in the evaluation.’”
Dissenters in the medical industry are calling for a do-not-resuscitate order on DEI initiatives, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for it to flatline. When I get my heart transplant in 20 years—give or take—my surgeon might be a diversity hire.
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The author made quite a leap in reasoning, from “these schools recruit students of color on purpose” to “those students are unqualified AND the physicians they become are unqualified.” So now you’ve conflated being non-white with being unqualified, as if there’s something inherently right about white students. That’s a plainly racist view, which has been developed to maintain dominance of the majority. Please dig a little deeper for the truth of the matter. This is not a zero-sum game. We can all prosper together, in a country with excellent healthcare provided by professionals who are all well-trained, regardless of race.
I refuse to be seen by any “surgeon of color” who graduated from medical school in the last 10 years. And yes, I do ask. My health means more to me than your virtue signaling.
Do not forget Patrick Chavis, the Black student who got Allan Bakke’s seat in medical school. See: https://www.jeffjacoby.com/10931/affirmative-action-can-be-fatal