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Before getting to the job of healing, students in medical schools are bowing to the tenets of far-Left ideologies.
A single activist psychologist has implemented diversity quotas and left-wing policies on race and healthcare across three different medical schools.
Dr. Anita Fernander, a trained psychologist and academic, has spread Left-wing ideology across three medical schools by overseeing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and teaching students about “equity” in the medical profession.
Be informed, not misled.
It's tough to see medical students in America's medical schools bowing on their knees to the secular religion of humanism and so-called "progressivism." And the misguided ideology of DEI.
Who is Anita Fernander?
Fernander is the executive diversity officer and a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) School of Medicine. The UNM medical school is part of its broader Health Sciences Center (HSC), combining academics and research with patient care.
Her bio says, “She has been engaged in leadership, teaching, research, and community engagement to address health inequities, enhance patient advocacy through cultural humility as a de-biasing strategy, and exploring transformational interventions to address historical and contemporary racism embedded in the political and social determinants of health.”
I'm not sure how that heals the sick, but it certainly advances a leftist ideology.
I noted that she receives an annual salary for both of her positions at UNM of $243,915, and her primary duties are related to her DEI work at UNM.
Fernander has written academic literature about incorporating critical race theory (CRT) into medicine, including a 2022 paper published in the Journal of the National Medical Association arguing for the necessity of understanding CRT to address “health inequities” and disparities between racial groups.
CRT, as you know, is a worldview instructing people to view every social interaction through the lens of race and claims America is an irredeemably racist nation. Numerous medical schools across America have implemented CRT into courses and training.
Her assignment.
Fernander’s DEI responsibilities cover a wide range of initiatives spanning hiring, education, research, accountability, and networking. Her task for each initiative is to address apparent issues concerning a variety of diversity groups.
The letter of employment at the University of New Mexico outlines their expectations: “Lead DEI strategic, innovative initiatives to address ongoing and emerging issues ( e.g. Native American/Indigenous, Anti-Racism/-Ethnoracism, LGBTQ+, Women’s, Latina/o/x, Hispanic or of Spanish Origin+ (LHS+), Disability, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African-American, DACA) throughout the SO M’s operations. Identify areas of opportunity, develop recommended courses of action, drive implementation, and conduct process and outcome evaluations.”
Her motives
She and the universities that have now hired her claim, “CRT should be applied within academic medicine to provide context for understanding and addressing racial health disparities.”
She blames "racist structures" for most of the medical issues among blacks and other minorities.
Prior to her arrival at UNM in November 2022, Fernander helped inaugurate and expand DEI programs to two other medical schools: the University of Kentucky (UK), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU).
Could any of this have to do with the money pouring into these institutions?
Fernander launched a White Coats for Black Lives (WCBL) fellowship at UK and became a core faculty member of its Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET), founded in 2018. In 2023, CHET had over $100 million of “health equity” annual grant funding and four “health equity” training programs, according to a report detailing the center’s growth over a five-year period.
And there's this: WCBL is a medical activist organization inspired by Black Lives Matter (BLM) devoted to “transformative change” in medicine by “dismantling dominant, exploitative systems in the United States” and “rebuilding a future that supports the health and well-being of marginalized communities,” its website states.
WCBL previously called for police to be abolished on campuses, in hospitals, and in broader communities in its 2020-21 report card. In June 2020, WCBL called for medical schools to adopt racial quotas in admissions and sever ties with local law enforcement.
In addition, Fernander founded the UK medical school’s Black Boys and Men in Medicine (BBAMM), a mentorship program intended solely for black males beginning in kindergarten and extending through medical residency.
How do other medical doctors feel about this?
DNH senior fellow Mark Perry filed a civil rights complaint in November 2023 with the Philadelphia Office for Civil Rights (OCR), accusing BBAMM of illegally discriminating based on race and sex.
It’s unclear if the Department of Education (DOE) will take action to address Perry’s complaint.
A recent study from the Association of American Medical Colleges shows that diversity, equity and inclusion policies have gained a significant foothold in American medical colleges, and a medical expert tells Fox News Digital that poses a serious risk to both the quality of care and freedom of expression.
"Med schools are devoting more and more time to these social and political issues, leaving less time for the study of medicine," Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, board chair of Do No Harm, told Fox News Digital in response to an analysis released by the AAMC, which essentially serves as a report card for how its medical colleges are faring at implementing DEI policies that critics have described as a "woke" agenda.
Goldfarb, a board-certified kidney specialist who formerly served as associate dean for curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, told Fox that these DEI policies place less emphasis on merit and more on diversity benchmarks, which ultimately means quality of care suffers.
"Patients will be viewed as members of a group based on skin color rather than as individuals," Goldfarb said. "Diversity has been elevated above merit and achievement as the basis for choosing med students and promoting faculty."
"This must lead to a decline in the quality of the physician workforce and undermines a foundational idea of America that you can achieve your goals through hard work and talent," he said.
Takeaway
Dr. Goldfarb says of his organization, Do No Harm, "Its mission" is to "protect health care from a radical, divisive and discriminatory ideology."
And it will continue to speak out against the "language of progressive policies" that are "designed to dissemble."
"This language has masked the true nature of what ‘woke’ policies mean and the public has not been well-informed about what is at stake," Goldfarb said.
"Do No Harm is dedicated to informing the public and its legislative representatives about the true nature of woke activities in health care and medical education. We feel that awareness of the initiatives will allow the public to appreciate the risks to the health care system and subsequently, to the health of the American people."
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.