Pride Edition 2022 | Page 17

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enough, in this situation, my patient felt safe to tell me exactly how to be her doctor.

What is Queer Med?

 

Many physicians and clinicians did not receive exposure to “queer medicine” in their training. In school, medical care – or even the basics in providing inclusive care for LGBTQI2S+ populations is often glossed over or ignored entirely. (If you don’t know what all those letters stand for, just google it!) When inevitably confronted with queer patients in practice, many of us are afraid to make a misstep. We may be aware of the statistics (like that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth,[1]

[1] Trevor Project, National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2021. Available at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2021/

[2] Huebner, DM, Thoma, BC, Neilands TB. School Victimization and Substance Use among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescents. Prev Sci. 2015 Jul; 16(5): 734-743. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4456196/

and that queer and nonbinary youth are more likely to experience bullying in schools which can lead to depression and increase substance use[2]) but have no understanding of how to help. We may incorrectly assume that we have no queer or nonbinary patients or that there are no gays or lesbians in our community. We may even have deeply held spiritual or religious beliefs that cast judgment on LGBTQI2S+ people and make it difficult to accept non-heteronormative or anything other than cis-gendered patients. While advocates continue to fight for urgently needed legislation to protect transgender patients from discrimination, we as healthcare providers have a responsibility to re-examine how we can serve the transgender, gender non-conforming, and queer people in our own communities with dignity and compassion.

Practice Makes a Difference

 

The work of creating inclusive healthcare environments doesn't need to be daunting; small changes make a big difference. Something as simple as including your pronouns when you introduce yourself can indicate that you are an ally. Stop using gendered terms like “sir” or “ma’am” when you meet someone new. Replace any expression of surprise or disapproval with a neutral or curious half-smile. Making a concerted effort to respect – and use – the pronouns of your patients will pave the way for increased trust and shared learning. (Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having pronouns respected attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected.[1]) If you make a mistake – and we all do – merely acknowledge your gaffe and promise to continue to try to honor your patient.

And, beyond our personal behaviors, there are changes we can all make in our practices without needing to become experts in trans-inclusive healthcare: