The American College of Surgeons has long been recognized as an organization that prioritized improved patient care and advancements in the medical field. In recent years, however, that reputation has been tarnished by the association’s perceived effort to elevate a far-left ideology above its founding principles.
Now, one surgeon is speaking out publicly against what he believes is the insidious impact of this shift — adding that his criticism has already resulted in a lifetime ban from participating in the nation’s largest organization of its kind.
Appearing on Fox News this week, Dr. Richard Bosshardt lamented that the ACS mission statement — “to serve all with skill and trust” — has been replaced by the divisive principles of critical race theory.
“They were supposed to be promoting excellence in surgery and supporting surgeons and their patients,” he told host Tucker Carlson. “Unfortunately, this is no longer true.”
Bosshardt recalled the events that led to his ban from the organization, explaining that about two years ago he began to notice a troubling trend.
“The ACS leadership went to war against itself,” he claimed. “It declared the ACS, the American College of Surgeons, to be structurally racist. It also went on to say that surgeons are racists and even the practice of surgery is racist.”
As a result of that position, the Florida-based plastic surgeon said that the organization has adopted a policy of de facto segregation in which “it’s best if patients are treated by surgeons of their own race.”
Bosshardt went into greater detail last year in an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, arguing that the ACS is “deliberately promoting ideas that sow distrust among doctors and patients, insult the integrity of professional surgeons, and reduce the quality of the care we provide.”
He went on to assert that “the college owes its members a frank and honest discussion about the merits of its actions and these ideas.”
Of course, the ACS is not the only institution that has prioritized CRT and other controversial social justice priorities in recent years.
Idaho medical students at the U of W Medical School at Idaho taxpayer expense may be taking specifically a medical course about Critical Race Theory in medicine. Literally in the title of the class. We will find out how many soon. #idpol #idleg #IDFreedomCaucus pic.twitter.com/fn0fZKjhYu
— Scott Herndon (@HerndonforIdaho) January 28, 2023
Many individuals and groups within the medical community are similarly concerned about the current trajectory — including an organization called Color Us United that is pushing back against the University of North Carolina’s efforts to promote such activism in its medical school training.
