A course being offered by the University of Maryland for the spring 2026 semester is facing backlash from several experts, with two telling Fox News Digital they view it as an example of “identity politics” undermining academic integrity, Fox News reports.
According to the university’s website, the course — titled “Decolonizing Medicine: Steps to Actionable Change” — “provides a comprehensive foundation of how colonial legacies continue to shape global health systems and medical practices.” The course was first reported by The College Fix.
The description further explains that students will “critically engage with the concept of ‘the White body’ as the standard in medical training, explore the consequences of the historical context underpinning colonial medicine, and interrogate neocolonial dynamics in contemporary global health efforts.” The class, targeted at those pursuing careers in medicine, public health, or health policy, encourages students to reconsider the “ethical and epistemological frameworks that underlie modern healthcare.”
Topics listed in the syllabus include “Medicine as a Colonial Project,” “Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge Systems,” “Structural Violence in Public Health,” and “Intersectionality as a Decolonial Tool in Modern Medicine.” Readings are drawn from works such as Medical Apartheid, The Killing of the Black Body, and research in critical race theory, according to the outlet.
Reagan Dugan, director of higher education initiatives at Defending Education, argued “Coursework that frames medicine as problematic because of its ‘colonial legacy’ is both historically and scientifically unfounded. The coursework seems to go even further and push critical theory into the classrooms of our future health leaders. Instead of training future doctors to serve all patients well, this emphasis appears to encourage them to see patients as oppressor and oppressed. Our institutions should train medical students in medicine, not progressive orthodoxy.”
The syllabus notes that the course is student-led rather than taught by a listed faculty member. It also includes recommendations for participants to share their pronouns and aspects of their identity during discussions.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, medical director at Do No Harm, shared similar concerns, warning that “Classes grounded in identity politics tend to divert attention away from evidence-based practice toward ideology. That shift risks blurring the line between political thought and clinical reasoning.”
Fox News has previously reported on higher education programs that integrate social justice themes into coursework and accreditation programs, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, critical race theory, and similar progressive frameworks.