Ableism in admissions processes and expectations set by technical standards can undermine equity in medical school admissions.

Diversity standards in medical education accreditation do not guarantee diversity but stimulate schools’ activities to recruit and retain diverse students and faculty.

Focus on diversity is critical, yet most US schools have failed to achieve racial-ethnic or economic diversity representative of the general US population.

The US Supreme Court has allowed race-conscious admissions when a school’s purpose is to diversify an incoming class but not to remediate inequity.

A medical-dental schism from 1840 persists and prevents oral health’s integration with overall health, to many patients’ detriment.

With properly designed programs, universities can offer transformative benefits to patients, educators, and students.

If not planned and executed thoughtfully, “immersions” might not provide much benefit to communities they seek to serve.

Within the United States, many “immersions” happen in student-run indigent care clinics that serve vulnerable populations.

Being close enough to patients to care is as critical as remaining distant enough from a pathogen to be safe. This strategy simultaneously frustrates and supports public trust.

Multiple pieces of reclaimed pallet wood are sculpted into a lateral cerebrum and a gradient of burned wood visually represents a crisis among health care professionals.