Gay friendly

[solo]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm applying for EM this year and was wondering if anyone knows what part of the country (other than the west coast) would be gay friendly? What about mid west (Indiana....) Thanks for anyone who can help.

 

[Sessamoid]

Aside from the west coast, there really isn't any whole region of the country that is gay-friendly. Most places that have EM residencies will have a pretty significant gay community, simply by dint of generally being in large population centers. Outside of the west coast, it's definitely city by city. In particular, I'd look for large college towns, since they tend to be more liberal and open-minded about non-traditional lifestyles.

 

[orthoguy]

NYC

 

[DrQuinn]

unsure of the rest of the south (likely not as liberal) but FL has a large gay population, atleast in the Tampa/Orlando/Ft.Laud/Miamia area... so you have USF and Orlando REgional there. I did my rotations in the Tampa area, and I had three attendings who were gay. Unsure of Jacksonville, as when I interviewed there, one of the residents said the city was very "Georgian."

Q, DO

 

[FoughtFyr]

Surprisingly, Milwaukee is pretty "gay friendly". If Madison (WI) ever started an EM residency, I'd think that would be the Mecca outside of LA or NYC...

- H

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by FoughtFyr
Surprisingly, Milwaukee is pretty "gay friendly". If Madison (WI) ever started an EM residency, I'd think that would be the Mecca outside of LA or NYC...

- H

Or, say, the SF Bay Area. Or, less obviously, Dallas, which last time I heard had the second highest per capita concentration of gay males in the country.

 

[solo]

Thanks everyone. Residency is going to be challenging enough that I don?t need my personal life to be non-existent. Also, I want to have good relationships with my fellow residents and the faculty. I?m not trying to sound like that ?poor gay boy who?s fighting the world?. In fact I don?t want to be labeled as the ?gay boy?, but rather be known for who I am as a person. Unfortunately there are still people who have very strong negative beliefs about homosexuality and treat homosexuals different and even poorly.

Thank you again for the comments. Please if anyone else has something to share please post it. I know there are others who want to know the same information.

 

[poi_and_beyond]

Atlanta, most definately. Mid-town is pretty much completely gay. One of the residents here is gay and loves it.

 

[Febrifuge]

Minneapolis/ St. Paul is quite the progressive little metro area. Good community. There's the well-meaning, clueless, "we're cosmopolitan because we have gay people" thing from some of the affluent, but they're mostly harmless. Irritating much more than hostile.

As to the specific culture of the programs, I don't know much. I've observed a few local ED's as an EMT and/or student, and work at one of the best of them now. I doubt the faculty or other residents anywhere I've been would give a crap about anything other than your skills. Nor would the staff I know tolerate any kind of bashing; that's noise, and it mucks up the program for everybody.

 

[DrDre']

University of Iowa is interviewing for their first class of EM residents. IC is a classic college town. Very liberal and progressive. Large gay population. No attendings in ED are gay to my knowledge. There are gay attendings and residents throughout the hospital, however. IC is often mentioned in the same breath as Madison, Burlington, Seattle, Portland and SF as cool, welcoming places.

Good luck, keep us posted. I would like to find a liberal environment myself.