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3 Underrepresented minority (URM) health care professionals are not the only people who can or should care for diverse populations, but they can teach non-URMs about better communication styles for different patients as the country’s population becomes majority minority.Ī diverse health professional workforce improves cultural competency and health equity, and diverse clinicians and researchers can serve as role models and problem solvers. 3 Furthermore, patients of nonwhite physicians are more likely to report fair or poor health. 2 Additionally, nonwhite physicians care for a larger percentage of minority and non-English-speaking patients compared to white physicians, a finding that has not changed in more than 20 years. When medical schools intentionally make racial and ethnic diversity an admissions goal and students perceive a positive environment for interracial interactions, students are more likely to feel prepared to care for minority populations, and white students are more likely to have strong favorable attitudes toward health equity. This decision occurred after the Department of Justice supported the Asian-American plaintiffs who sued Harvard University over affirmative action quotas. In the first agreement of its kind involving the Trump administration, Texas Tech agreed to stop the use of affirmative action. Texas Tech was unable to demonstrate they reviewed their admissions policies annually and whether race-neutral strategies could achieve a diverse student body. During the course of the DOE’s Office on Civil Rights probe, the system stopped using affirmative action in its admissions considerations at its pharmacy school and undergraduate college. 1 The probe started after a complaint filed by the anti-affirmative action advocacy organization Center for Equal Opportunity. In April, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Texas Tech University System had signed an agreement with the US Department of Education (DOE) to stop using affirmative action as part of the admissions process at the medical school after a 14-year investigation. This arrangement reflects one of the many ways this administration is supporting policies that make it harder for minorities to achieve health equity. A decision made by the Trump administration earlier this year should be concerning for people involved in admissions for medical schools and higher education.