AMA under fire for ‘replacing one racial preference with another’

The American Medical Association Foundation has revived racial preferences in its scholarships for medical students, the watchdog Do No Harm alleges.

Do No Harm sent a letter to the IRS in April, noting that some of the foundation’s scholarships explicitly stated that only medical students of certain races qualify. While the foundation initially removed the scholarship opportunities from its website, it appears to have restored them.

“Simply put, these valuable and lucrative scholarship opportunities cannot be awarded based on race,” Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at Do No Harm, told the Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday.

“The AMA Foundation has done little to remedy the substantial problems identified in our original complaint regarding its Physicians of Tomorrow program,” Miceli said. “Months later, race-based scholarships remain in place, having undergone only superficial changes.”

The AMA Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the largest professional association of physicians and medical students in the United States. Its Physicians of Tomorrow program provides scholarships for medical school students.

The Complaint Against the AMA​

The April Do No Harm complaint asked the IRS to investigate the foundation over “invidious racial discrimination” in its Physicians of Tomorrow program. Three scholarships were listed on the foundation’s website on Feb. 24, but no longer appeared on the site as of April 17, after Do No Harm’s letter.

The listing for the Dr. Richard Allen Williams & Genita Evangelista Johnson/Association of Black Cardiologists Scholarship offered $5,000 to medical students interested in cardiology, but only if they are “African American/Black.”

The Underrepresented in Medicine Scholarship offered $10,000 to winners, who must be “African American/Black, Latine/Hispanic or Indigenous (American Indian, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native).”

The Patricia L. Austin Family Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship also offered $10,000, but stated that winners must be “of Eastern European descent.”

Do No Harm’s new letter notes that the Austin scholarship has reappeared on the website and states that it gives a “preference” to “students who are enrolled members of, or otherwise affiliated with, a federally recognized American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribe or group.”

The Underrepresented in Medicine Scholarship has also reappeared, though its listing does not state a racial preference. However, another AMA web page says the award is “for African American, Latino/Hispanic, or Native Americans/Native Hawaiians/Alaska Natives scholars” who demonstrate a commitment to vulnerable or underserved populations.

The addendum also notes that the scholarship’s selection committee includes student members of the Underrepresented in Medicine Advocacy Section Governing Council.

“Taken together, all indications… support the inference that the scholarship’s racial preference lives on,” the letter states.

“For one such scholarship, replacing one racial preference with another does nothing to cure the underlying discrimination or end the harm that persists,” Dr. Miceli told the Daily Signal.

Why It May Be Illegal​

“Each of these racist exclusions is repugnant to our civil rights laws and ‘the congressional intent underlying [federal law],’” the initial complaint states.

The AMA Foundation’s racially discriminatory scholarships are “sufficient grounds for the IRS to revoke the AMA Foundation’s tax-exempt status,” the complaint states. It cites the Supreme Court’s finding in Bob Jones University v. United States (1983), that “racially discriminatory” institutions “cannot be viewed as conferring a public benefit within the ‘charitable’ concept” of the common law.

The complaint also cites Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), in which the Supreme Court found that racial preferences in college admissions—often referred to as “affirmative action”—constituted racial discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

President Donald Trump’s “executive orders also leave the [IRS] with no discretion” on the matter, the complaint claims.

“The IRS should include the revised scholarships in any investigation related to Do No Harm’s original complaint and hold the Foundation accountable under federal law, which grants the organization a significant tax advantage at a cost ultimately borne by taxpayers.”

Do No Harm is a watchdog group of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals that aims to expose racial discrimination, transgender ideology, and other divisive practices in medicine.

The Daily Signal has reached out to the AMA for comment and will update this article with any response.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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[ H/T WorldNetDaily ]