DEI Kills: How University Enrollment Guidelines Are Churning Out Unqualified Doctors 

PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / shutterstock.com
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / shutterstock.com

In yet another blow to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standards for colleges and universities, whistleblowers recently revealed that nearly half of all medical students enrolled in UCLA fail medical competency tests. 

Widely regarded as one of the top medical schools globally, the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, receives up to 14,000 applications annually. In the 2023 admissions cycle, it admitted only 173 students, marking a record-low acceptance rate of 1.3 percent.  

The typical accepted student completed challenging science courses during their undergraduate studies, achieved a GPA of 3.8, and scored in the 88th percentile on the Medical College Admissions Test. Students who don’t meet these standards when entering the medical program will have difficulty keeping up with the school’s curriculum. 

However, whistleblowers have come forward to say that UCLA is setting aside stringent admission requirements in the name of DEI, and it is affecting the quality of some graduating doctors from the once-esteemed university. 

Affirmative action has been outlawed in California since 1996 when then-Republican Governor Pete Wilson passed Proposition 209, which changed the state constitution to prevent using race, sexual orientation, or ethnicity considerations in public jobs and educational institutions.  

Despite this, colleges and universities in California have found other ways to “promote diversity.” They use so-called “holistic” reviews of applicants, looking at personal essays and educational achievements, and some universities have removed standardized test score requirements. 

Jennifer Lucero, UCLA dean of admissions, has made it plain that UCLA doesn’t care whether a graduating physician can care for people’s health as long as they are Black. In 2021, a candidate applied for admission and was granted it despite their test scores and grades being far below the average accepted by the school. When the admissions committee expressed their reservations, Lucero blasted them and said that the candidate’s grades shouldn’t matter because the school needed “people like this.” 

Since 2020, when Lucero took charge of medical school admissions, several colleagues have raised concerns. In interviews with the Free Beacon and complaints to UCLA officials, including the university’s Discrimination Prevention Office, faculty members familiar with the admissions process claim that it now prioritizes diversity over merit. They argue this has led to increasingly less qualified classes and students struggling to pass the rigid course requirements. 

Written correspondence between UCLA officials, internal data on student performance, and interviews with eight professors at the medical school offer startling revelations about how racial preferences, banned in California since 1996, have persisted. These preferences have disrupted academic standards at UCLA, leading to a drop in rankings, an increase in failing test scores, and grave concerns about clinical competence.  

Since 2020, UCLA’s ranking for medical research in U.S. News & World Report fell from 6th to 18th place. Additionally, over 50 percent of students failed general and specialized medicine standardized tests.  

One professor mentioned that a student in the operating room couldn’t identify a major artery and then criticized the professor for questioning her. Another professor noted that some students lack knowledge of basic lab tests, even at the end of clinical rotations. This professor expressed concern about how these students would manage as junior doctors, pointing to a disturbing decline in the medical students’ knowledge. 

A professor said that the admissions process is a failure, with the university accepting students with GPAs “so low” that the students “shouldn’t even be applying” in the first place. 

Lucero has informed the admissions committee that each class should “reflect California’s diversity,” Although race is rarely mentioned explicitly, and the committee does not see applicants’ race or ethnicity, Lucero uses proxies like zip codes and terms like “disadvantaged” to deflect criticism of less qualified candidates. 

The drop in student qualifications has worsened because of UCLA’s 2020 decision to shorten its preclinical curriculum from two years to one. First-year students spend three to four hours every other week in a required class on “Structural Racism and Health Equity,” which has included controversial topics and speakers and is now under internal review. Professors argue that these courses take time away from essential subjects like physiology and anatomy, leaving students less prepared. 

It’s proof that the DEI criterion isn’t just insane – it could kill you.