Leaders of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the UCSF School of Medicine said they will no longer require students to complete diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) courses that have been the subject of intense criticism.
The decision was announced on Tuesday after both deans testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is chaired by Representative Tim Walberg of Michigan. The committee described the courses as propaganda that fail to train competent physicians and argued that they prioritise far‑left activism over medical science.
UCLA medical school dean Steve Dubinett and UCSF chancellor Sam Hawgood each gave evidence to the committee, acknowledging the scrutiny of the curriculum. The committee’s view was that the classes give priority to political activism rather than core medical training.
The courses were originally mandated under accreditation rules that have since been rescinded. Those rules had required instruction on health‑disparities, but the material that was taught included statements that weight loss is a hopeless effort and that unlawful infrastructure takeovers were endorsed.
UCLA’s “Structural Racism and Health Equity” class assigned readings on topics described as decolonisation and ableist heteropatriarchal capitalism. The programme also featured a speaker who led anti‑Israel chants and discussed the self‑immolation of Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. serviceman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy.
At UCSF, the curriculum linked the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to structural trauma comparable to historic redlining. An instructional guide advised clinicians to refer to pregnant people rather than pregnant women, although the chancellor noted that the majority of pregnancies involve women. The university also encourages students to report instances of what it terms “white supremacy culture”, such as an emphasis on objectivity or individualism, through a portal called SAFE.
The move follows investigative reporting and a congressional investigation into the curriculum, as well as a Justice Department finding in May that UCLA continues to discriminate intentionally on the basis of race in its admissions process. The department’s investigation was launched after a whistleblower alleged that admission standards were lowered for Black and Hispanic applicants. Dean Dubinett claimed that race does not influence admission decisions at UCLA.
Both institutions said the removal of the mandatory DEI courses reflects a reassessment of how best to prepare future physicians, focusing on medical science rather than political activism.