CardioSource WorldNews | Page 38

CLINICAL INNOVATORS

organizations?
In 2005, I was named to the AMA’s Advisory
Committee on LGBT Issues. In that role in 2007,
I testified before the AMA delegates urging AMA
support of insurance coverage for medical and
surgical transition expenses. This resolution passed
and has been cited numerous times in support of
expanded health coverage. In 2009, I was invited
to participate in a panel of the APA on the subject
“Aligning Bodies with Minds,” advocating medical
and surgical treatment as appropriate for gender
dysphoria rather than reparative types of therapy.
This outcome happened in 2013 with the DSM-5,
when the APA removed “gender identity disorder”
and replaced it with “gender dysphoria,” which
connotes the reaction to external stress which we
experience during and after transition. Now it can
no longer be said that transgender people have a
diagnosis of “mental disorder.”
You have written and spoken about the
importance of medical terminology and the
language we use as health care professionals
when addressing transgender patients. What
should clinicians be aware of to ensure that they
address their patients respectfully?
Fair treatment begins with the health record. If the

patient’s preferred name and gender can be noted,
the record will be a source of relief rather than
a source of stress and anxiety. All front office staff,
medical assistants, technicians and nurses would
use the correct name and pronouns. If you aren’t
sure which pronoun to use, ask! The patient will
be glad to know you care. Treat the transgender
patient just as you would treat any other patient.
Transgender people aren’t “icky,” and they aren’t
contagious. The “first do no harm” compassion
that we bring to every patient encounter should be
shared with transgender patients.
What goals do you have for the future of your
advocacy efforts?
A personal goal for me has been to support LGBT
persons who continue in their faith. Many progressive groups, Christian, Jewish, or other, are welcoming to all, and share a message of love rather than
rejection. My own denomination, the United Church
of Christ, is a welcoming home for those who have
been banished by their former churches. Perhaps
this is the cause I will continue to support after I
slow down in my other efforts.

medical community? Where do you see things
heading in the next decade?
Most health professionals understand that gender
dysphoria is a medical condition, and that appropriate medical treatment brings good outcomes. The
next step is to learn what “appropriate medical treatment” means. In the next decade, I see transgender
health (along with general LGBT health) included in
the curricula of all health professional schools and
postgraduate training. The path to mainstream inclusion of transgender people and transgender health is
not always smooth, as we can see from the backlash evident in some state legislatures. But I believe
that within a few years, transgender health will be
included in the general curricula of health professional schools, and beginning students will have no
memory of a time when it was not so. ■

Katlyn Nemani, MD, is a physician
at New York University.

How have attitudes towards transgender
patients evolved over the last 20 years in the

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36 CardioSource WorldNews

July 2016