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I am a current first MD/PhD student at a good medical school, and I got a lot of inputs when I applied for med schools last year at SDN. Thus I would like to write this thread as a return to SDN (or I want to take a break from cellular biology Lol). As my title indicates, I want to talk about my experience as an openly gay applicant. Hopefully it will more or less help some of you.
About my background, please read my original thread from 2012 http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=915593
Briefly, I applied for MD/PhD. I really don't like the environment at TX, so I only applied for schools at gay-friendly areas, like West coast, New England, and Atlanta (Atlanta? Yes, I will explain later). Since I will spend at least 8 years at a place, I don't regret this decision. Overall I am a competitive applicant (check the original thread, the only update is that I retook my MCAT, so my final score is 37). I mainly applied for the top20 programs based on the research rankings. The school list was pretty much the same as what I indicated in the original thread plus UPenn. At the end, I got in two top5 programs, so I was very satisfied. I am just a first year medical student, rather than a doctor who have witnessed the change of LGBT environment in the medical field for decades, so I could only report what I have experienced.
Which medical schools are gay-friendly?
Like what I said, I only applied for schools located at progressive places, so not surprisingly my experience was extremely positive. I came out in the most of secondary assays related to diversity, so most of the admission committees knew I am gay and did related work. Harvard and Penn arranged me to talk to their LGBT organization leaders during the interview. Columbia put a LGBT source brochure in my interview folder (or everyone's? I am not sure.) So I would be surprised if any medical school is not gay-friendly, if they are located in liberal states (exception: Loma Linda University School of Medicine).
I was going to apply for Baylor, but I did not at the end, because I failed to find their website for their med student LGBT groups, which was very disappointing in my opinion. People told me Atlanta is very gay-friendly, so I applied for Emory. I feel it's a fair statement. Atlanta has a big gay population especially in midtown (people called it "gaytown" Lol). Emory did not have formal LGBT events during my interview, but posted a flyer of their LGBT source website, which was somewhat helpful.
So there are some of signs that the school is gay-friendly: highly ranked program in general, schools with an active LGBT med student group, schools with LGBT health related curriculum (Boston U, Stanford etc.), schools with out LGBT staff and faculty (Penn, Harvard etc.), positive feedback from the current students (the most reliable sign, of course).
Just a warning, some medical specialties are still old boys club, for example, surgery. At least two gay students at Hopkins, they know some surgeons are obviously homophobic ( For example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmWPQ7nEHY)
Should I talk about my sexual orientation in my application?
It really depends!
1) How comfortable are you to talk about your sexual orientation. Don't talk about anything, which you have no desire to talk about, in your essay.
2) Whether being LGBT makes a difference in your life, especially in your decision to pursue a career in medicine. Does it inspire you to do something different in your life, or make a difference in other people's life? So when you talk about your sexual orientation, tell a nice story rather telling about who you are. The admission cares about what you can do, rather who you are.
3) How gay-friendly the school is? If the school is located in the deep south, and no sign indicates it's gay-friendly. Probably not a good idea.
If you are applying for Harvard, Penn, and Stanford, I would encourage you to talk about it. I felt they actively recruit LGBT students.
Did the interviewers ask about the topics related to my sexual orientation?
If you do not disclose your sexual orientation, I will be surprised if any of them will ask. They are not supposed to ask either. However, if you mention it in your essay, I feel it's fair for them to ask and you should be prepared. I interviewed with 8 schools, and about three interviewers brought this up. If the interviewer brings up this topic, this is actually a good sign in general. As a sensitive topic, the interviewer will not ask unless he or she thinks you are a good candidate. One of my interviewers asked me about when I would come out to my parents, and I felt we had some special connection after talking about this topic.
So in a word, be prepared if you want to talk your sexual orientation and how it shaped you. It's not a bad topic to talk about in an interview, as long as you do it right. Be positive despite of difficulty you had have encountered.
Interesting reads: Not matter if you are gay or straight, I highly recommend this short article about Dr. Mark Schuster who is currently the Chief of General Pediatrics at Childrens Hospital Boston: http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/03/being-gay-in-medicine A very inspiring article about how working environment changed in the past three decades. I was fortunate enough to meet him during my interview at Harvard. Very nice and inspiring person.
I would answer any questions as long as the school work will not be too harsh on me.
About my background, please read my original thread from 2012 http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=915593
Briefly, I applied for MD/PhD. I really don't like the environment at TX, so I only applied for schools at gay-friendly areas, like West coast, New England, and Atlanta (Atlanta? Yes, I will explain later). Since I will spend at least 8 years at a place, I don't regret this decision. Overall I am a competitive applicant (check the original thread, the only update is that I retook my MCAT, so my final score is 37). I mainly applied for the top20 programs based on the research rankings. The school list was pretty much the same as what I indicated in the original thread plus UPenn. At the end, I got in two top5 programs, so I was very satisfied. I am just a first year medical student, rather than a doctor who have witnessed the change of LGBT environment in the medical field for decades, so I could only report what I have experienced.
Which medical schools are gay-friendly?
Like what I said, I only applied for schools located at progressive places, so not surprisingly my experience was extremely positive. I came out in the most of secondary assays related to diversity, so most of the admission committees knew I am gay and did related work. Harvard and Penn arranged me to talk to their LGBT organization leaders during the interview. Columbia put a LGBT source brochure in my interview folder (or everyone's? I am not sure.) So I would be surprised if any medical school is not gay-friendly, if they are located in liberal states (exception: Loma Linda University School of Medicine).
I was going to apply for Baylor, but I did not at the end, because I failed to find their website for their med student LGBT groups, which was very disappointing in my opinion. People told me Atlanta is very gay-friendly, so I applied for Emory. I feel it's a fair statement. Atlanta has a big gay population especially in midtown (people called it "gaytown" Lol). Emory did not have formal LGBT events during my interview, but posted a flyer of their LGBT source website, which was somewhat helpful.
So there are some of signs that the school is gay-friendly: highly ranked program in general, schools with an active LGBT med student group, schools with LGBT health related curriculum (Boston U, Stanford etc.), schools with out LGBT staff and faculty (Penn, Harvard etc.), positive feedback from the current students (the most reliable sign, of course).
Just a warning, some medical specialties are still old boys club, for example, surgery. At least two gay students at Hopkins, they know some surgeons are obviously homophobic ( For example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmWPQ7nEHY)
Should I talk about my sexual orientation in my application?
It really depends!
1) How comfortable are you to talk about your sexual orientation. Don't talk about anything, which you have no desire to talk about, in your essay.
2) Whether being LGBT makes a difference in your life, especially in your decision to pursue a career in medicine. Does it inspire you to do something different in your life, or make a difference in other people's life? So when you talk about your sexual orientation, tell a nice story rather telling about who you are. The admission cares about what you can do, rather who you are.
3) How gay-friendly the school is? If the school is located in the deep south, and no sign indicates it's gay-friendly. Probably not a good idea.
If you are applying for Harvard, Penn, and Stanford, I would encourage you to talk about it. I felt they actively recruit LGBT students.
Did the interviewers ask about the topics related to my sexual orientation?
If you do not disclose your sexual orientation, I will be surprised if any of them will ask. They are not supposed to ask either. However, if you mention it in your essay, I feel it's fair for them to ask and you should be prepared. I interviewed with 8 schools, and about three interviewers brought this up. If the interviewer brings up this topic, this is actually a good sign in general. As a sensitive topic, the interviewer will not ask unless he or she thinks you are a good candidate. One of my interviewers asked me about when I would come out to my parents, and I felt we had some special connection after talking about this topic.
So in a word, be prepared if you want to talk your sexual orientation and how it shaped you. It's not a bad topic to talk about in an interview, as long as you do it right. Be positive despite of difficulty you had have encountered.
Interesting reads: Not matter if you are gay or straight, I highly recommend this short article about Dr. Mark Schuster who is currently the Chief of General Pediatrics at Childrens Hospital Boston: http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/03/being-gay-in-medicine A very inspiring article about how working environment changed in the past three decades. I was fortunate enough to meet him during my interview at Harvard. Very nice and inspiring person.
I would answer any questions as long as the school work will not be too harsh on me.
