Despite Pushback, Anti-DEI Congressman to Speak at Medical Meeting

Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-N.C.), will speak at the American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) leadership meeting later this month, despite calls for the congressman to be disinvited over his bill proposing a ban on federal funding for medical schools with diversity initiatives.

Last month, the North Carolina congressmen introduced the Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act, which per a press release on Murphy’s website aims “to ban race-based mandates at medical schools and accrediting institutions.”

ACEP’s president, Aisha Terry, MD, MPH, took to video on Monday to explain why, despite pushback from members, Murphy is still scheduled to speak April 16 at the organization’s Leadership & Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.

In the video, Terry said that she and Murphy had a candid 35-minute conversation. She expressed ACEP’s position that a diverse physician workforce is “essential and fundamental to the proud practice of emergency medicine” and told him that some ACEP members were uncomfortable with the EDUCATE Act and thus Murphy’s scheduled appearance at the conference.

The EDUCATE Act, which currently has over 40 co-sponsors, would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and cut federal funding to medical schools with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or initiatives, calling for a “colorblind” approach to admissions.

For his part, Murphy told Terry that “he is in favor of a diverse physician workforce, but concerned about forced liberal policy and ideology in medical school, which he feels distracts from the goal of producing well-equipped physicians.”

“I emphasized that we share the goal of producing competent physicians who receive outstanding training,” said Terry. “I also shared, however, that I’m not aware of any objective or anecdotal data that the bar has been lowered, that diversity inherently comes at the expense of quality, that DEI initiatives negatively impact the quality of medical education, or that physician diversity impairs health outcomes. In fact, there’s plenty of data to the contrary.”

Murphy’s bill has been rebuked by a number of major medical societies, including the American College of Physicians, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and others.

And on Monday, ACEP released a statement saying the organization reaffirms its “unwavering commitment to ensuring a diverse and representative emergency physician workforce and opposes any legislation that runs counter to this goal.” The statement cited ACEP’s policy statement on workforce diversity from 2001, which was last revised in June 2023.

“While there is clear recognition that Murphy’s bill is starkly counter to ACEP policy, after exhaustive deliberation and many discussions with several, there is consensus amongst the board of directors to not uninvite him,” Terry said in the video.

“I’d like to emphasize that ACEP is not afraid to defend our policies while having tough conversations on topics about which we might not agree,” she continued. “ACEP believes in holding our elected officials accountable, while having respectful discourse and fighting for our broad and long mission.”

After the conversation with Murphy, Terry noted she met with four ACEP members who strongly advocated for Murphy to be disinvited. MedPage Today spoke with three of those members.

“I don’t think that it could have been stressed any clearer from us that this was a bad decision,” said Italo Brown, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine physician in Palo Alto, California, adding that emergency medicine and ACEP would be painted poorly “by giving this guy a platform to talk about something that was not only extremely harmful, but deleterious to decades of work in this space.”

Fred Kency Jr., MD, of Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, said that “the diversity of medicine is what makes medicine great and there’s plenty of research that shows when places are more diverse there are better patient outcomes.”

All three emphasized that Terry was receptive to their feedback, has a strong record of working toward equity, and is in a tough spot as the first Black woman president of ACEP. While Terry has been the messenger, they cautioned that this situation is beyond her and comes down to the ACEP board, which is majority white.

The third ACEP member, who requested anonymity, said the group discussed other avenues for compromise if ACEP would not rescind Murphy’s invite: moving his talk to a smaller room; inviting other physician legislators to be in the conversation such as Rep. Raul Ruiz, MD (D-Calif.), an emergency room physician; or shortening Murphy’s time slot. The member also noted that this situation makes emergency medicine look bad and distracts from the other good work at the conference.

“Somebody likened it to inviting the CEO of a tobacco company to a high school graduation commencement speech,” Brown said.

The anonymous ACEP member pointed out that the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA) was particularly upset. “You’re going to maintain your relationship with this congressman, but you’re going to jeopardize your future [ACEP] membership,” the member said.

Indeed, in a statement, EMRA said that Murphy’s legislation “threatens the advancements made toward creating diverse and inclusive healthcare environments.” Blake Denley, MD, EMRA’s president and an emergency medicine physician in New Orleans, posted on X that “the EDUCATE Act is dangerous, racist legislation, and its introduction only further demonstrates the need for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in medical education and healthcare in general.”

Tanesha Beckford, MD, an emergency medicine resident physician in Boston and EMRA’s former diversity and inclusion committee chair, noted on X that the act is “a misled representation of what it means to truly have DEI efforts in medical school and it intentionally misconstrues the language of equity leaders to build its platform and misinform the public. This is unacceptable and a detriment to our healthcare system.”

An ACEP spokesperson told MedPage Today that Murphy was invited to discuss “healthcare issues being considered in Congress, given his history of leadership on physician issues, his role as co-chair of the House GOP Doctors’ Caucus, and his position as a physician member of the Ways and Means Committee” and that “the invitation was extended prior to his introducing the EDUCATE Act.” They also confirmed Murphy’s session will be followed by a brief Q&A.

Murphy did not reply to MedPage Today‘s multiple requests for comment.

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