HHS’ Civil Rights Office Clarifies Race-based Prohibitions for Medical Schools to Advance Values of Initiative, Hard Work, and Excellence

Excerpt:  “The Department advised medical schools to:

• Ensure their policies and procedures comply with existing federal civil rights laws;
• Discontinue criteria, tools, or processes that serve as substitutes for race or are intended to advance race-based decision-making; and
• End reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or data aggregators that engage in prohibited uses of race.

‘Today’s announcement protects students and patients by ensuring health care providers, and those in the health professions pipeline, are selected based on merit and clinical skills, not race,’ said the Office for Civil Rights Acting Director, Anthony Archeval.”