Gay friendly medical schools

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I am applying to medical school in the next cycle. I am in a long-term relationship and want to narrow down on schools/locations that would be gay friendly and accepting (and yes of course I am looking at other factors as well).

I am coming from a very liberal city in the north east, have lots of friends who are very close and supportive (very unsupportive family though). I am in a same-sex relationship but basically live a very "straight" life. I don't really do Pride things etc, I'm pretty much your "average" person only gay. So I don't need to have a school that runs a pride parade through campus, but I want an environment that is open/progressive/accepting.

Where I live now I am used to talking about my partner at work/school; we attend events together, noone cares, noone bats an eye. I have never once heard a negative comment. All in all I absolutely do not feel any different than anyone else I know. I would like to find a place that is the same.
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Dude, Gay is in. Stay away from the bible belt (which is actually fairly accepting, given the advanced knowledge and worldly nature of the profession) and you should be golden.

The most gay friendly school? Doy. UCSF. But good luck getting into that (if you do, bawler. And not baller. BAWLer).

Otherwise, any private school you get in to in whatever city you go, likely gay friendly. If you are a flamer and intentionally developed a lisp, wear a pair of wings and prance around, you aren't going to be accepted anywhere. Homosexuality is a normal part of cultural society. I would be more interested in hearing from people where the school is avidly homophobic.

I'm in school in Louisiana. Yeah. The armpit of our society. The edge of the bible belt. The least tolerant (save maybe for Mississippi or Alabama, but lets be honest, splitting hairs now) and everyone i know who is gay has no problem. Fighting the usual biggot? Sure. Push back from patients when they are REALLY out? Sure. But no different than any environment you are ever going to live in, practice in, or raise your children in.
 
OveractiveBrain said:
Dude, Gay is in. Stay away from the bible belt (which is actually fairly accepting, given the advanced knowledge and worldly nature of the profession) and you should be golden.

The most gay friendly school? Doy. UCSF. But good luck getting into that (if you do, bawler. And not baller. BAWLer).

Otherwise, any private school you get in to in whatever city you go, likely gay friendly. If you are a flamer and intentionally developed a lisp, wear a pair of wings and prance around, you aren't going to be accepted anywhere. Homosexuality is a normal part of cultural society. I would be more interested in hearing from people where the school is avidly homophobic.

I'm in school in Louisiana. Yeah. The armpit of our society. The edge of the bible belt. The least tolerant (save maybe for Mississippi or Alabama, but lets be honest, splitting hairs now) and everyone i know who is gay has no problem. Fighting the usual biggot? Sure. Push back from patients when they are REALLY out? Sure. But no different than any environment you are ever going to live in, practice in, or raise your children in.
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lulz. We definitely have a few gheys in my class, and nobody really seems to care.

I have lived in Alabama for 15 years though so I know there are definitely some ignorant people out there. Being gay in college (especially in med school - higher education and all) really doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore in my opinion.

Like he said, ghey is in. Unless you are a yuge flamer.
 
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we have a LOT of out and proud gay people at my school, even in the south! there are at least 12-15 people, several in serious relationships who live with their SO and lead a normal life.

i don't think you need to worry about the med school- apply to all of the places you want to go and when you go for your interviews and talk to the students, you'll get a feel.

most people in medicine are educated and more accepting than most people in the general public.

don't worry about it- find a school that fits for you and unless you get a REALLY bad vibe, i would think that you'd be fine almost anywhere. good luck!
 
look I don't think people in medical school will be pushing their religious/moral beliefs on you no matter where you go. But they will talk behind your back - that I know is fact. Everyone will be professional and nice to you but just be prepared for people to not be personally accepting. However, you'll find a group of like minded friends and it won't matter in the end what other med students think. Just please do not go pushing your views on others since you clearly don't want people to push their views on you.
 
Fleur de Me said:
most people in medicine are educated and more accepting than most people in the general public.
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This is pretty much what I want to say. I doubt the gay-friendliness of the school or educational atmosphere will be much of a concern. I met very few intolerant med students on the interview trail, and most of the ones I know are progressive enough to be gay friendly. And of course universities are mostly gay friendly, as are the faculty. You hear random reports of homophobia, like at Albert Einstein a few years back, but I'm not sure that reflects the whole institution. You might want to avoid the religious-affiliated schools like Loma Linda or Creighton--but to be fair I haven't heard anything either way about gay students there.


In terms of gay friendliness, I'd recommend considering the location more than the school. You know, for those rare times when you can actually escape school and its bubble of tolerance and hit the city.


Some ideas:
- Staying with students during my interviews gave me the best idea of how accepting they were.
- If that's not your style, you can still ask about the presence of LGBT health groups or elements of the curriculum specifically addressing LGBT health concerns, which many schools are now including.
- You can check whether they explicitly state that they consider students regardless of sexual orientation, just as they will say they consider regardless of race, ethnicity, etc.
- Personally, I outed myself to several interviewers (it was relevant to the discussion) and didn't feel any less well received. It was a useful way to talk about gay life in the area, and to just get a sense for whether the people there had any problems with homosexuality. As it turned out, one of my interviewers even offered to contact his gay friend for an informed opinion if I had any concerns about gay life in that city.
 
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I'd suggest looking in CA, South FL, or in your current area... However, I think most schools are pretty open these days.
 
officedepot said:
Just please do not go pushing your views on others
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Are you afraid the OP will turn you gay or something?

OP, avoid Loma Linda. Other than that, I haven't heard of any non-gay friendly schools.
 
MedStudentWanna said:
Are you afraid the OP will turn you gay or something?
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uh, no. Are you able to make connections from the op's post and mine? the OP wants a gay friendly school bc he doesn't want people pushing their views on him. I just point out he should do the same bc no matter where he goes he will be working with people (either in the school or in the hospital or with patients) who may have moral/religious objections to his lifestyle. Point is not to be a hypocrite. Live and let live.

regardless, it really doesn't matter what school you go to. Everyone will be professional in medical school and if they aren't I'm sure there is a way to report students who are outwardly mean. It is against the code of conduct. So everyone will be respectful. However, the same cannot be said for patients and families (or coworkers perhaps). If I were you, OP, that's what I would focus on. Live in a more progessive city if you want to avoid this possibility for the most part.
 
In med school I've had far fewer problems than I anticipated. It's nice to be in an environment where your ability in what you do is really kind of the bottom line, and if you're queer or not it's a far afterthought. In general, the more professional the program the less of an issue you'll have.

Things I would look for include whether or not the sponsoring institution has partner benefits or not and where the state or community is regarding civil rights issues. Bigger programs also allow you to be a little more anonymous if that is your style.

My final word of advice is if you're out in any part of you application be prepared to not only talk about it but be prepared to spin straw into gold- There are some benefits like a cultural knowledge base for a group that's been marginalized, you have to have done some kind of self-exploration to figure out your identity, etc. Also some people remember the days of ACT-UP and that the queer movement got very militant against the medical establishment in the 80's over HIV/AIDS and the kind of elder faculty that sit on admissions panels will be old enough to remember this. This came up for me in the interview at the school I'm going to graduate from in May, but I was out in my application so I came prepared to parry and riposte.
 
Moral?

You're acting as if it's wrong to be gay...LOL

There's nothing negative about being a homo or a bi person
 
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Don't mistake gay "friendly" with gay acceptance. Always be aware that homosexuality will be judged negatively by the majority, no matter where you are. Medical school is a small world and what happens there will affect the rest of your professional career. Always be honest about yourself, but do so quietly...
 
officedepot said:
uh, no. Are you able to make connections from the op's post and mine? the OP wants a gay friendly school bc he doesn't want people pushing their views on him. I just point out he should do the same bc no matter where he goes he will be working with people (either in the school or in the hospital or with patients) who may have moral/religious objections to his lifestyle. Point is not to be a hypocrite. Live and let live.
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When did the OP say he was interested in converting people's beliefs in being gay? Only people who don't know much about gay people think that every gay person is out there to push their "beliefs" on others. IF someone wanted to find a family friendly school, my guess is you wouldn't give him/her the advice you gave the OP. The only reason for that is that you're stereotyping the OP and assuming that just because he/she is gay, he/she is out to push his/her "lifestyle" on others.

regardless, it really doesn't matter what school you go to. Everyone will be professional in medical school and if they aren't I'm sure there is a way to report students who are outwardly mean. It is against the code of conduct. So everyone will be respectful. However, the same cannot be said for patients and families (or coworkers perhaps). If I were you, OP, that's what I would focus on. Live in a more progessive city if you want to avoid this possibility for the most part.[/QUOTE]
 
2662 said:
Don't mistake gay "friendly" with gay acceptance. Always be aware that homosexuality will be judged negatively by the majority, no matter where you are.
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I challenge this belief. If it was true, gay marriage and civil unions would be sunk in a heartbeat. In the past, homosexuality was viewed negatively by the majority and it still is, but that majority is slowly but surely sinking into the minority.
 
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MedStudentWanna said:
I challenge this belief. If it was true, gay marriage and civil unions would be sunk in a heartbeat. In the past, homosexuality was viewed negatively by the majority and it still is, but that majority is slowly but surely sinking into the minority.
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Civil union and signifigant other benefits legislation concern heterosexual couples as well. And laws allowing same-sex marriage have been struck down in every state where those laws have been challenged in court. Although, in 2010 a Federal judge ruled unconstitutional the California voter approved ban on same-sex marriages there - so most likely the Supreme Court will eventually determine the matter.

I worked for the Census Bureau this past 2009 going from house to house in every neighborhood in my city interviewing all kinds of people (for the 2010 census). We gave out a blind questionaire on viewpoints concerning cultural issues. In the US as a whole, there were three subjects that scored above 90% negative across all demographics, education levels and economic status: homosexuality, bilingual education in public schools, and illegal immigration. The world is what it is... I'm just sayin' that in any workplace (med-school) sexual discussions (including heterosexual) should be kept at a minimum.
 
uch i can't believe what this thread is turning into.

anyway. Baltimore is a very gay friendly town.
 
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2662 said:
Civil union and signifigant other benefits legislation concern heterosexual couples as well.
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Yes, but let's get real. Since 1999, civil unions has been about homosexual couples and it met great opposition in '99. It's only since homophobes have realized that gay marriage is the next step that some of them have reluctantly given in to civil unions, hoping it'll stop there.

And laws allowing same-sex marriage have been struck down in every state where those laws have been challenged in court.
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Wrong! Same sex marriage has never been struck down in court. It's the opposite -- the courts say yes, the voters say no. But the good news is that nationwide, there's more and more support for gay marriage and especially for civil unions. But you know, in the end it doesn't matter because the courts will do the right thing and realize that decisions pertaining to the rights of American citizens isn't and shouldn't be dependent on what the majority wants.

Although, in 2010 a Federal judge ruled unconstitutional the California voter approved ban on same-sex marriages there - so most likely the Supreme Court will eventually determine the matter.
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See above.

I worked for the Census Bureau this past 2009 going from house to house in every neighborhood in my city interviewing all kinds of people (for the 2010 census). We gave out a blind questionaire on viewpoints concerning cultural issues. In the US as a whole, there were three subjects that scored above 90% negative across all demographics, education levels and economic status: homosexuality, bilingual education in public schools, and illegal immigration. The world is what it is... I'm just sayin' that in any workplace (med-school) sexual discussions (including heterosexual) should be kept at a minimum.
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If you mean to tell us that 90% of people in the U.S. feel negatively about homosexuality, then how do you explain polls like this?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-06/...ay-marriage-americans-favor-new-poll?_s=PM:US
 
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5r89wu
 
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2662 said:
Don't mistake gay "friendly" with gay acceptance. Always be aware that homosexuality will be judged negatively by the majority, no matter where you are. Medical school is a small world and what happens there will affect the rest of your professional career. Always be honest about yourself, but do so quietly...
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:thumbdown:thumbdown:thumbdown:

This is not true everywhere. In fact, I even heard an interesting interview with a baptist youth leader recently. He said that amongst his community, while the youth remained passionately anti choice, the anti gay marriage sentiment lay largely with the older generation.

The times, there are a changing buddy. Get the f#ck over it.
 
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New England is quite liberal and might be a good option for you, especially Massachusetts and Vermont.
 
You'll be fine most everywhere you go. Sure it may be easier in some places than others, but most people are fairly open (especially the younger generations) and don't really care. I go to med school in the south and went to college in New England and attitudes were roughly similar (at least among students).

I've been out since HS and even after coming out then I was still fairly popular, was never bullied, and had loads of very good (and many conservative) friends in a really Republican Texas suburb. My best friend here at med school is a self-described conservative who goes to church multiple times per week.

The idea that a significant fraction of the people, much less the majority, are going to silently judge you from afar is, frankly, complete BS. You'd be surprised how flexible conservatives are when it comes to interacting and befriending gay people. The only conservatives who demonize and hate gays are ones who don't know any (to their knowledge). It's much harder for them when the concept of a gay person is humanized to them through personal interaction and friendships.

I'm pretty understated in my sexuality (people can't tell and I act like a "normal" guy), but even the more flame-y gay kids in my class don't get any flak and have plenty of friends.
 
Couple things.

Most medical schools, I think, will be pretty accepting of all different backgrounds. So it depends on how large of a community you want. We have a couple gay bars in town, and a decently active LBGT organization, but I'm not sure how many people are actually gay. I know one of the guys in my group is... he's rather vocal about it... but beyond that, I don't really care.

And frankly, if you're going into the medical profession, you're going to have to learn not to judge (at least outwardly... no one really cares what you're thinking) anyway. One of the first questions we're supposed to ask during a sexual history is 'men, women, or both?' So if there are people in any given medical school who are homophobic, they're going to have a long, rough road ahead of them.
 
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It would be easier if you posted the schools you were accepted to, and we could rank them... because unlike me, you seem to have a choice in which school you attend. ;) [edit: see this is why i suck at verbal reasoning, already forgot you said your applying next cycle lol]

1)UCSF (obviously)
2)Stanford (I hear they even have a statue on campus with two gay dudes, but i could be mistaken)
3)UCLA (the sophisticated parts of LA are very gay friendly)

As far as the rest of the world, UCSD would suck I think, but then again, that is more for a lack of promoting it. Never seen anyone actually denounce it. Although diversity at UCSD blows in general. But La Jolla is the nicest city in the world, soooo I would absolutely still go there.

I believe Loma Linda actually has something in their student standards against sexual promiscuity (aka homosexuality in religious speak)

I would steer away from said catholic schools merely because, like the old guy who cracks a ridiculously racist joke and leaves you looking like :eek:, the older folk will harbor some resentment inside due to the way they were raised. They might not tell you you are evil, they will probably be very nice to you actually, but thats because they probably feel sorry for you because you are going to hell. :rolleyes:

This is just my .02
 
if you're looking for another midwest option (besides Chicago), Ohio State/the city of Columbus would be another good place to check out!!
 
lockjaw said:
New England is quite liberal and might be a good option for you, especially Massachusetts and Vermont.
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Agreed, I think the city is more important that the school itself. NYC, Boston, most of urban new england in general. Certain large urban centers in the Midwest, such as Chicago. California, Washington, etc.
 
Most gay friendly? University of Utah of course!
 
NEW YORK CITY!!! We love our gays. Parades, clubs, and neighborhoods. Park Slope and the Villiage are the obvious, but Harlem is becoming more diverse for race and sexuality. :love:
 
Philly is pretty gay friendly. Jefferson is actually in "gayborhood", and I think there's a large LGBT student group, too.
 
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Sesom said:
Most gay friendly? University of Utah of course!
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Definitely not University of Utah. Mormons hate gay people, and they will make your life miserable. They've payed millions of dollars to make it illegal for gays to marry.
 
StudyShy said:
Definitely not University of Utah. Mormons hate gay people, and they will make your life miserable. They've payed millions of dollars to make it illegal for gays to marry.
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UU =/= BYU

I remember reading recently that one gay publication listed SLC as one of the top 10 cities in which to be "fabulously gay". Needless to say, it caused a but of an uproar.
 
Good luck. I am straight but face other ignorant bigotry from uneducated *****s. I would just like to add that, once you are accepted, if you ever do face any problems, take it to the program leadership. They will nail the bastards to the wall.
 
Now, I don't know how Gay friendly Brown is, but when I was touring the Undergrad portion of the Uni, I noticed their school of medicine had a big rainbow flag with "Gay Pride" written on it. :) Im guessing they're friendly.

but yeah, Im from the northeast and most schools here are very accepting. were very liberal.
 
Most med schools are "gay friendly". Despite the older ranks of docs, most physicians are pretty open, caring people and don't harbor too much prejudice against the LGBT community (maybe some ignorance, but harmless in intent).

The real question you should be asking yourself is not where things are "gay friendly" but where you would be happy as a gay medical student. If you're in the middle of rural Mid-West and the town you're in has no gay bars, a small gay community, few people your age, etc. you might not be as happy as say in NYC. That was one of my personal reasons for wanting to live in the Bay Area...and being on a campus with 8000 other graduate students. It's not always about acceptance, it's sometimes about numbers and environment.
 
WingedOx said:
UU =/= BYU

I remember reading recently that one gay publication listed SLC as one of the top 10 cities in which to be "fabulously gay". Needless to say, it caused a but of an uproar.
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I'm glad to hear that there is a safe haven for gays in Utah. I coudn't imagine living under such persecution in certain areas. It must be very difficult and lonely.
 
version2 said:
I am in a long-term relationship and want to narrow down on locations that would be gay friendly and accepting (and yes of course I am looking at other factors as well).
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Did anyone else read that at first and :laugh: ?
 
Not sure why this hasn't been mentioned before but the U of Minnesota!!! Minneapolis is a VERYYY gay friendly city - i think we were rated like the gayest city or something a few years back.
 
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Second the twin cities area, we just shot down a major state constitutional amendment that would have forever defined marriage as man and woman only and the U was a big part of stopping that. There were posters all over campus.(And only district 6 claims Michelle Bachman the rest of us think she's certifiable). :smuggrin:

Down in Rochester by Mayo there was also a lot of opposition to the amendment as well. Mayo really strives for diversity, but acceptance can be very specific to work area. Ie one area I worked the gay ppl were pretty well closeted and it was pretty conservative, in my current work area ppl are out and accepted. I think the environment for med students at Mayo is reprtedly good and very accepting though the class size is pretty small. The clinic has some different groups and there is a glbt group composed of staff, employees, and students that has regular meetings and puts on diversity classes for employees and students and host gatherings and fundraisers and stuff. The city itself is pretty split between very liberal and very conservative and I don't think there are any gay bars in town.
 
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wholeheartedly said:
Second the twin cities area, we just shot down a major state constitutional amendment that would have forever defined marriage as man and woman only and the U was a big part of stopping that. There were posters all over campus.(And only district 6 claims Michelle Bachman the rest of us think she's certifiable). :smuggrin:

/QUOTE]

I volunteered for Minnesotians United for All Families <3

I really hope ppl don't think all Minnesotans are like Bachman.. she's a loon
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University of Iowa and Iowa City are *super* gay friendly. The admissions staff was really helpful and provided a lot of information on how they strive to achieve more equality. From a current MD/PhD senior:

The University and the hospital have long prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and formally added protections for transgender status in the last year or two. The hospital participates in the HRC hospital survey on equality, they are in the process of expanding insurance coverage for hormone and surgeries for transgender individuals, we just opened an LGBT specific outpt clinic, and have been working to modify fields within the medical record so that people can go by unofficial names (i.e. a transgender pt can change names before legally changing it) and to distinguish between biological sex and presenting gender.
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Iowa also has marriage equality and protections for LGBT individuals.
 
Brachyury said:
FYI, there are many LGBT friendly schools that are not in that directory
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I agree. Aren't many/most MD SOMs in areas that tend to attract a wide variety of people from various parts of the country?

All pre-meds need to be just focused on identifying where they can get in. Applying to a few token SOMs that might be more "X-friendly" about whatever issue may result in no acceptances at all.

I live in a so-called conservative state. Gay couples are openly "out and about" and no one bothers them at all. If a gay person attended one of the SOMs in this state, he/she would be fine.
 
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