Support of Association of American Medical Colleges Statement

This statement is issued in response to the United States Executive Order entitled, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” issued on September 22, 2020.

The Society for Education in Anesthesia (SEA) is a society devoted to excellence in patient care through education. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and strive to promote these principles with our actions and teachings.

The SEA stands in solidarity with the Association of American Medical Colleges and other national health care organizations in opposing the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping as it misrepresents efforts to promote diversity and inclusivity in academic anesthesiology programs and their sponsoring institutions. We laud components of the Executive Order but cannot support language within the document that contributes directly to the continued divide within our country and within our academic institutions, ultimately affecting patient care.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the setting of a meritocracy is the ideal that SEA strives for. This ideal will not be deeply ingrained until implicit biases are acknowledged and tempered to allow equality for ALL. Intrinsic to the acknowledgement of these biases are curricula and readily available diversity training programs in all academic institutions.

The SEA is committed to building educational environments for all anesthesiology physicians that eradicate the consequences of institutional racism and promote a diverse physician workforce that delivers outstanding medical care.

The SEA wholeheartedly supports the Association of American Medical Colleges.