Queer Med Perspectives in Medicine
by Julia McDonald, DO '11
Photo by ??
As I glanced over my schedule to prep my morning clinic, I saw an unfamiliar name. Clicking into the chart, I saw the patient had never been to our clinic before and he had no scanned health records to indicate what his health needs might be. A part of me loves the challenge of meeting a brand new patient in the middle of a busy clinic: establish rapport and glean the most relevant medical history in 20 minutes or less. When I walked into the room, I saw a slightly disheveled, twenty-something year old Caucasian male slumped into his seat. I introduced myself in my normal manner: “Hi, I’m Julia McDonald, my pronouns are she/her/they/them. Welcome to the FMI.” Smile and elbow bump.
The patient instantly became animated and sat up, a smile appearing like the sun from behind a cloud. Hearing me open the visit with my pronouns invited a reciprocal introduction, indicated that I did not assume that someone’s appearance indicated their gender, and suggested that I would treat whatever arose with respect.
A torrent of words flowed: “I go by she/her pronouns! I mean, I did before I had to move back home and no one here even knows!”
William Osler said “Listen to your patient, he [or she] is telling you the diagnosis.” And sure