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  • Press Release

    AAMC Statement on Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

    Media Contacts

    Stuart Heiser, Senior Media Relations Specialist

    AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and AAMC Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer David A. Acosta, MD, issued the following statement on the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping:

    “The AAMC is concerned and alarmed by the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping issued on Sept. 22.

    While the executive order contains some elements that are universally agreed upon and with which we agree, it also exhibits a misunderstanding of most diversity and inclusion training programs and therefore will only further divide an already fragmented nation.

    The history of our country and academic medicine includes myriad examples of principles and actions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion of which we can all be proud. Unfortunately, both the country and the community of academic medicine have not always lived up to the ideal of equal opportunity, and our history includes painful examples of racism, sexism, prejudice, and conscious as well as unconscious biases based on race, gender, and other identities. This history and these biases have led to inequities in health care and other areas of life that are increasingly evident in our nation. The disparities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing protests related to police brutality have boldly demonstrated the damaging and dehumanizing effects that derive from not respecting and valuing our differences and lived experiences, and have amplified racial biases and exclusionary behaviors.

    The central purpose of diversity and inclusion training is, in fact, to bring the country together, not to further divide it. Only through better understanding of our conscious and unconscious biases, learning about other cultures in our pluralistic society, reaffirming our commitment to being anti-racist, and challenging long-held beliefs – that we hold ourselves and that we hold about others – will we heal the divisions now shaking our nation to its core.

    The AAMC, and the academic medical institutions that comprise our membership, are committed to being diverse, inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist organizations. We believe this training is needed now more than ever. The AAMC intends to continue our trajectory of pursuing and even increasing such training. We urge our member institutions and other affected organizations to do so as well.”

    Learn more about how AAMC is responding
    Frequently Asked Questions: Executive Actions Prohibiting Certain Types of Diversity Training


    The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) is a nonprofit association dedicated to improving the health of people everywhere through medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations. Its members are all 158 U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education; 13 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 academic health systems and teaching hospitals, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 70 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC leads and serves America’s medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and the millions of individuals across academic medicine, including more than 193,000 full-time faculty members, 96,000 medical students, 153,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences. Following a 2022 merger, the Alliance of Academic Health Centers and the Alliance of Academic Health Centers International broadened participation in the AAMC by U.S. and international academic health centers.