Members of the Faculty of the Department of Dermatology at University of Tennessee, President of the Medical Center and the American Board of Dermatology:

 

It has come to our  attention, and to the attention of the medical community at large, that one of your trainees, Dr. Amena Alkeswani, posted an unprofessional, hate-filled, antisemitic post on Twitter.  In it,she made clearly biased and unfounded statements such as:

 

“Your Zionist folks are swimming in blood money, and I doubt they would want to do honest people work like we do”

 

As faculty members of academic institutions and clinicians throughout the US, we are shocked and disgusted that someone who makes such public, hate-filled statements is considered competent to practice medicine/dermatology and sit for the American Boards of Dermatology.  This is not someone to whom we would feel comfortable entrusting the care of any patient;  antisemitism is an indicator and harbinger of bigotry and xenophobia from which no one is safe.  

 

In 1999, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) selected and endorsed 6 competencies to define the foundational skills that every practicing physician in every specialty should possess. These six ACGME Core Competencies, as they are called, were developed to shape and evaluate the education of residents. Furthermore, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has integrated the ACGME core competencies into the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. 

 

The statements shared publicly by Dr Amena Alkeswani on Twitter indicate a severe deficiency in two of these competencies— interpersonal communication skills and professionalism— based upon which a resident is determined competent to practice medicine in this country.

 

 In making such statements, Dr. Alkeswani reveals that she holds deep biases that prove her to be unprofessional and incompetent.  If we are to maintain a high and ethical standard of care, we cannot approve trainees for sitting for the American Boards of Dermatology certification nor have them in the practice of medicine in any capacity who behave in such a hate-mongering and offensive manner. 

 

Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Public awareness of her posts has become so pervasive that they have become inseparable from her identity as a healthcare professional. Any reputable medical practice or facility would find these posts egregiously objectionable and deny employment to an individual who holds beliefs so antithetical to any workplace culture and community.  As employers who recruit from your residency programs or hire your graduates once trained, we look to you to ensure your students, who hope to join our profession, are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment.   As her employer, you must conclude that you have no choice but to sever your relationship with her, terminating her employment at your institution.

 

For all students and staff, you should also immediately ensure that you have a safe reporting system for victims of antisemitism and you create mandatory educational training to combat antisemitism.  Under Title VI in the civil rights code, further elucidated in Executive Order 13899, an educational institution “must ensure the absence of a hostile learning environment.”  The posts of Dr. Aleswani are “sufficiently severe, pervasive and persistent” to have created a hostile environment.  Health and Human Services have clarified the prohibition of antisemitism to any entity receiving federal funding (Medicare and Medicaid) pursuant to Title VI and Sections 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. 

 

Hence, you must act with clarity and force for the well-being of your own institution.   And your actions and decisions with regard to this event have far reaching implications for all of us: patients and physicians in dermatology and in medicine at large.