(The Lion) — The largest medical school accreditor in the country has quietly removed diversity language from its standards after pressure from the advocacy group Do No Harm.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) uploaded new standards to its website that rewrites most of a section previously seeping with terms such as diversity, bias and inequity, according to a statement provided to The Lion.
“Do No Harm commends the LCME for finally removing the remaining DEI language from the latest version of its standards. This reflects a renewed commitment to high-quality clinical care over political ideology,” Do No Harm’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Miceli said in a statement to The Lion.
Previously, standard 7.6 of LCME’s 2026-2027 Function and Structure of a Medical School policies discussed “biases,” “disparities” and “inequities,” saying curriculum must train students to provide “effective care in a multidimensional and diverse society.”
Section 7.6 of the new 2027-2028 standards, dated March 13 of this year, removes all these terms and simply requires students to “learn, practice, and receive feedback,” as well as “self-identify critical gaps” regarding information, skills and improvement goals.
LCME issued no statement on the change, and both versions of the standards are accessible on LCME’s website.
“The best explanation for the change in the guidelines is the new understanding by this accreditation body that the focus should be on creating lifelong learners who are outstanding physicians and not advocates for various social positions,” Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb told The Lion in a statement.
The changes follow an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal in which Goldfarb called on the Trump administration to establish an alternative accreditor to LCME because of the monopoly’s continued DEI ideology.
Goldfarb argued all medical schools should consider merit and excellence and end nationwide indoctrination.
“Ultimately, this is about ensuring Americans have the best physicians providing the best care,” Goldfarb said. “DEI has distracted medical schools from their purpose, and while it’s vital to cure the ideological disease, it’s just as important to refocus medical education on its lifesaving mission.”
President Trump issued an executive order last April that promised to reform the accreditation system, and mentioned LCME by name. The executive order followed a March 2025 report from Do No Harm’s investigation into accreditors and their DEI requirements, especially pertaining to healthcare education.
“We believe that our advocacy for this position has been critical in moving the LCME to abandon the politically divisive standards and the previous focus on activities unrelated to training Medical students to be outstanding physicians,” Goldfarb said.
The report highlighted LCME’s standards 3.3 and 7.6.
Standard 3.3 required medical schools to offer “programs and/or partnerships” for the sole purpose of diversity achievement. LCME removed this standard completely in May of 2025, but standard 7.6 remained until last week.
“As a powerful institution with significant influence over medical education, the LCME has now made clear that scientific rigor and excellence are the top priorities – a change we have been advocating for years,” Miceli said. “This marks a major victory and step forward in the ongoing battle over the future of medical education in America.”
