In recent years, identity politics and DEI ideology have increasingly shaped how doctors are trained, hired, and even incentivized to care for patients. This shift risks undermining medical standards, patient trust, and ultimately patient outcomes.
The latest episode of Giving Ventures features Dr. Stanley Goldfarb—physician, educator, and founder of the nonprofit Do No Harm. Stanley joins the show to describe how identity politics has taken hold in American healthcare and what can be done to push back. Drawing on decades of experience in medicine and recent advocacy work, he outlines the real-world consequences of DEI-driven policies and why reform is urgently needed.
When Identity Politics Enters the Exam Room
Stanley’s concern begins in medical education. Earning a spot at America’s medical schools is highly competitive, and historically med schools have relied on rigorous academic metrics to select future physicians. But DEI initiatives have increasingly deprioritized merit in favor of group identity.
This trend carries real risks. Performance on exams like the MCAT predicts success in medical school, which predicts residency outcomes and physician performance. When standards are lowered at the front end, patients are the ones who may ultimately pay the price. The emphasis on identity has also eroded trust, causing some patients to wonder whether their doctor was chosen for excellence—or something else entirely.
That mistrust cuts both ways. Highly capable minority physicians, Stanley notes, are unfairly burdened by assumptions that their achievements were the result of preferential treatment rather than merit. Instead of advancing equity, DEI policies risk stigmatizing the very people they claim to help.
Founding Do No Harm
In response, Stanley founded Do No Harm in 2022. The organization now boasts more than 50,000 members—about half of them healthcare professionals—and focuses on eliminating discriminatory practices in medicine.
Do No Harm pursues its mission through work in public education, litigation, and crafting legislation. This multi-pronged approach has already yielded results, including successful legal challenges to race-based Medicare incentives and corporate employment programs that excluded applicants based on race.
The Pediatric Gender Medicine Debate
Do No Harm’s work also extends into one of the most divisive areas in medicine today: “gender-affirming care” for minors. What troubles Stanley most is how standardized protocols have replaced individualized care. Children—often teenage girls experiencing distress during puberty—are frequently categorized as transgender without thorough psychological evaluation and are quickly placed on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. The evidence supporting these interventions, Stanley argues, is remarkably weak, while evidence of harm continues to accumulate.
Do No Harm has supported legislation in more than two dozen states to restrict these procedures for minors and has worked to amplify the voices of “detransitioners” who are often ignored by the medical establishment.
A Path Forward
There is reason for optimism, however. Public opinion, especially around pediatric gender medicine, has begun to shift. Courts have upheld state authority to restrict harmful practices, hospitals are scaling back controversial programs, and legislators are increasingly receptive to reform efforts.
Fixing American healthcare system will require persistence and clarity: rejecting identity-based medicine in favor of individual care, restoring merit and excellence in medical education, and rebuilding patient trust. Organizations like Do No Harm exist to ensure that those principles are not just defended, but acted upon.
You can learn more about Do No Harm’s work at DoNoHarmMedicine.org.