Diversity essay - Should I mention being LGBT?

[Doug Underhill]

I honestly don't know if that's a HIPAA violation. Any experts on SDN care to chime in?

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[genericpremedstudent]

it would be a HIPAA violation if I had access to someone's medical records and told someone about their protected medical information. obviously this isn't the case. especially since it is family.

 

[ThinkReallyFast]

It has nothing to do with health records so I am unsure how HIPAA would even be remotely involved.

In most cases I would not advise sharing another's trans status without their permission. In sharing someones trans status you have the potential to create an unsafe environment for that person. While I have certainly heard of discrimination in terms of employment and housing for diagnoses such as a cancer, it is not likely to trigger someones "personal beliefs" and create an environment where the transgender individual may fear for their safety. It is generally their history to decide how and with whom they will share it.

I think there are some exceptions to this, with your application being one. Within the application it serve to explain your capacity to serve transgender patients and there is also an expectation that sensitive information that you share will not leave the application processes. Nevertheless, I would suggest asking your parent for permission as sharing their status in the application has the potential to impact their experience should they ever visit.

 

[familyaerospace]

it would be a HIPAA violation if I had access to someone's medical records and told someone about their protected medical information. obviously this isn't the case. especially since it is family.

You have access to enough medical information (medical transitioning is medical) which is none of other people's business, but that you are spreading to people who don't need to know. The fact that other people might be violating does not give you the right to do it. I assume you've gone through HIPAA (like I have no less than 8 times) and what do we do? We err on the side of caution even if it is family.

There have been a few discussions on SDN about disclosing family health issues in personal statements and depending on the nature of it and how specific it is getting, it has often been suggested to get in writing from the person that it is ok to disclose or to make it more vague and not name names.

When I wrote my personal statement about one of my friends who died and another who almost did, I stripped names to initials. Unless you knew either person directly, it is almost impossible to identify. One did give written permission to use names, but the other was dead.

But again, do what you want with yourself. I would not want to be the one being judged and take the chance the adcomm could use the "You may have violated privacy" against me.

Also as @ThinkReallyFast said, it can cause a lot of other issues.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

You have access to enough medical information (medical transitioning is medical) which is none of other people's business, but that you are spreading to people who don't need to know. The fact that other people might be violating does not give you the right to do it. I assume you've gone through HIPAA (like I have no less than 8 times) and what do we do? We err on the side of caution even if it is family.

There have been a few discussions on SDN about disclosing family health issues in personal statements and depending on the nature of it and how specific it is getting, it has often been suggested to get in writing from the person that it is ok to disclose or to make it more vague and not name names.

When I wrote my personal statement about one of my friends who died and another who almost did, I stripped names to initials. Unless you knew either person directly, it is almost impossible to identify. One did give written permission to use names, but the other was dead.

But again, do what you want with yourself. I would not want to be the one being judged and take the chance the adcomm could use the "You may have violated privacy" against me.

Also as @ThinkReallyFast said, it can cause a lot of other issues.

for the last time, disclosing that my father is trans is not a violation of HIPAA for numerous reasons. the big one being that I do not have access to my father's medial records. I can say whatever I want then. I am not binding to the confidentiality agreement set forth by HIPAA because it does not apply to this. second, gender identity is not protected medical history. as i'm sure you know, many trans people identify as another gender without having any medical means of transitioning (HRT, surgery, etc). I've gone through HIPAA training several times. and none of this is even relevant since I haven't even seen my father in 21 years, she won't even be listed as a parent on my AMCAS.

 

[familyaerospace]

for the last time, disclosing that my father is trans is not a violation of HIPAA for numerous reasons. the big one being that I do not have access to my father's medial records. I can say whatever I want then. I am not binding to the confidentiality agreement set forth by HIPAA because it does not apply to this. second, gender identity is not protected medical history. as i'm sure you know, many trans people identify as another gender without having any medical means of transitioning (HRT, surgery, etc). I've gone through HIPAA training several times. and none of this is even relevant since I haven't even seen my father in 21 years, she won't even be listed as a parent on my AMCAS.

The identity is not protected but medical transitioning is protected medical history just like my mother's psych history is protected. I actually texted a lawyer to ask over dinner. If there is one thing I have it is a lot of lawyer friends (side effect of being Jewish). He said just saying that your parent is transgender (specifically transsexual) is a definite grey area for HIPAA (if you get into details it is definitely a no-go) and he would not chance it either unless there was written permission. Doctors and future doctors are held to higher standards, that is what he stressed. Personally, I'd listen to a lawyer which is why I stripped identifying details out of my essays a few years ago.

I also know that someone finding out that I was transgender at the hospital where I volunteered caused all hell to break loose and a HIPAA investigation to occur to see how people found out.

Social transitioning without medical transitioning while not a violation of HIPAA is still an ethical issue as you are potentially putting someone's life at risk.

But whatever, you do whatever you want although if I were interviewing you, I would ask how a person you haven't seen in 21 years influenced you to work in a trans clinic especially if you are trying to get diversity points for being the child of a transgender person.

 

[tantacles]

But whatever, you do whatever you want although if I were interviewing you, I would ask how a person you haven't seen in 21 years influenced you to work in a trans clinic especially if you are trying to get diversity points for being the child of a transgender person.

I'd love to chime in the say that while there really isn't a HIPAA violation, FAS makes an excellent point above.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

The identity is not protected but medical transitioning is protected medical history just like my mother's psych history is protected. I actually texted a lawyer to ask over dinner. If there is one thing I have it is a lot of lawyer friends (side effect of being Jewish). He said just saying that your parent is transgender (specifically transsexual) is a definite grey area for HIPAA (if you get into details it is definitely a no-go) and he would not chance it either unless there was written permission. Doctors and future doctors are held to higher standards, that is what he stressed. Personally, I'd listen to a lawyer which is why I stripped identifying details out of my essays a few years ago.

I also know that someone finding out that I was transgender at the hospital where I volunteered caused all hell to break loose and a HIPAA investigation to occur to see how people found out.

Social transitioning without medical transitioning while not a violation of HIPAA is still an ethical issue as you are potentially putting someone's life at risk.

But whatever, you do whatever you want although if I were interviewing you, I would ask how a person you haven't seen in 21 years influenced you to work in a trans clinic especially if you are trying to get diversity points for being the child of a transgender person.

diversity points for being the child of a trans parent? get over yourself. my family life and the path is lead me to is none of your business, and its insulting that you are implying that my involvement in the trans community is for nothing more than filler on my application. you still fail to see the point that HIPAA doesn't apply if I am not privy to someone's medical history. Since I do not know my father's medical history, why would I talk about her medical transitioning. Lets use logic here...

 

[familyaerospace]

diversity points for being the child of a trans parent? get over yourself. my family life and the path is lead me to is none of your business, and its insulting that you are implying that my involvement in the trans community is for nothing more than filler on my application. you still fail to see the point that HIPAA doesn't apply if I am not privy to someone's medical history. Since I do not know my father's medical history, why would I talk about her medical transitioning. Lets use logic here...

And you fail to see that medical transitioning IS medical information! How does one transition? Either socially, medically, or legally or all three. Medically, it is just like my grandmother's cancer or Dad's HBP. The fact I am on hormones is no one's business same with having my surgery. When legal transition is over, when all the paperwork swaps over, the former sex basically gets locked in a box (many states seal part or all of the records).

You also missed the "I asked a lawyer who said it was a grey area" bit. I personally know of people who were successfully sued for slander/libel for stating someone was trans (the person was trans).

You are claiming you are doing something because of your father who you don't have any information about and have not seen in 20 years. You are planning to mention this to discuss how she influenced your work in the trans clinic. You are outing someone just to mention why you are doing something and unless you are trying to get brownie points for being a kid of a trans person, the statement is not needed. You could skip mentioning your father entirely since it is obvious that you were not truly influenced by her and go directly to the work in the trans clinic. Which, by the way, many (but not all) trans people change parental terms when they transition aka if my daughter is with me, it's Dad.

The clinic can stand for diversity on it's own because it is unusual enough of an activity.

 

[familyaerospace]

It should also be stated again that stating someone is trans even if they are only socially transitioning (and never get diagnosed) is still a danger to the person!

 

[genericpremedstudent]

And you fail to see that medical transitioning IS medical information! How does one transition? Either socially, medically, or legally or all three. Medically, it is just like my grandmother's cancer or Dad's HBP. The fact I am on hormones is no one's business same with having my surgery. When legal transition is over, when all the paperwork swaps over, the former sex basically gets locked in a box (many states seal part or all of the records).

You also missed the "I asked a lawyer who said it was a grey area" bit. I personally know of people who were successfully sued for slander/libel for stating someone was trans (the person was trans).

You are claiming you are doing something because of your father who you don't have any information about and have not seen in 20 years. You are planning to mention this to discuss how she influenced your work in the trans clinic. You are outing someone just to mention why you are doing something and unless you are trying to get brownie points for being a kid of a trans person, the statement is not needed. You could skip mentioning your father entirely since it is obvious that you were not truly influenced by her and go directly to the work in the trans clinic. Which, by the way, many (but not all) trans people change parental terms when they transition aka if my daughter is with me, it's Dad.

The clinic can stand for diversity on it's own because it is unusual enough of an activity.

You don't know why I haven't seen my father in 20 years, what I know about her, or anything. You are making assumptions that are ultimately irrelevant since I have nothing to prove to you. You still fail to see that HIPAA isn't binding for people who don't have access to someone's medical record, nor do I think stating my father is trans would lead to her suing me. You don't have all the facts so stop trying act like you do.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Bumping for the new application cycle!

 

[DingoPingo]

woops

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Can someone who actually knows please resolve the "outing a family member as trans is a HIPAA violation" issue? It makes no sense to me that this would be a HIPAA violation because the person reviewing the info was not a healthcare provider, or covered entity, etc. Also, don't libel/slander have to be either false and/or delivered with the intent to cause harm by reputation or employment?

 

[tantacles]

Can someone who actually knows please resolve the "outing a family member as trans is a HIPAA violation" issue? It makes no sense to me that this would be a HIPAA violation because the person reviewing the info was not a healthcare provider, or covered entity, etc. Also, don't libel/slander have to be either false and/or delivered with the intent to cause harm by reputation or employment?

It's not. To be safe, however, it would be wise to use the words "family member" in lieu of any name or title like "mother," "father," "sister," "cousin," "niece," "nephew," "uncle," etc.


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