Gay in podiatry-at Kent

[ohiocpmguy]

I have a concern that's been itching at me for a while now. I've always wondered if I was the only gay/lgbt pod student at Kent. I haven't come out to many people although I'm sure most of my class would be cool with it. I guess I'm not what some people consider "stereotypical" so I've gotten this far without being asked, but it is really difficult and I feel isolated at times.

I don't really know how/when/if I should come out and I hate that I even have to ask this in 2015. I'm mainly worried about how to approach this in residency and as a practitioner.
My suspicion is that I should keep quiet since medicine in general is very conservative and, unfortunately, lgbt discrimination isn't illegal in any of the states I want to work in and I don't want it keeping me from opportunities. However, I'm curious if anyone else has insight on this. Does anyone have any experience with being out in podiatry?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bobtheweazel]

Although its not a nationally protected group, there are something like 30 states (plus Puerto Rico) that have antidiscrimination laws based on sexual orientation. That should leave plenty of options open.

I'm not gay, but I wouldn't want to be at a residency site that wouldn't accept me for me. It's not like you're gonna be trying to have sex with every male patient and medical provider that you come into contact with.

I haven't worked in Podiatry yet, but I have provided a lot of direct patient care up until now and it is very rare that something like that comes up in conversations with patients. We're there to treat them, not give them our autobiography. As for your coworkers, I'm sure they'll be on to you at some point but in today's society I would be under the impression that very few people would care in a negative way, but you'll always run into that one unavoidable dingus. Those kind of people would probably find something to hate about you anyway (sexual orientation, race, religion, etc.) so you can't get too stressed about it. Haters gonna hate.

Good luck!

 

[ldsrmdude]

Hey pod people I have a concern that's been itching at me for a while now. I've always wondered if I was the only gay/lgbt pod student at Kent. I haven't come out to many people although I'm sure most of my class would be cool with it. I guess I'm not what some people consider "stereotypical" so I've gotten this far without being asked, but it is really difficult and I feel isolated at times.

I don't really know how/when/if I should come out and I hate that I even have to ask this in 2015. I'm mainly worried about how to approach this in residency and as a practitioner.
My suspicion is that I should keep quiet since medicine in general is very conservative and, unfortunately, lgbt discrimination isn't illegal in any of the states I want to work in, so I don't want it keeping me from opportunities. However, I'm curious if anyone else has insight on this. Does anyone have any experience with being out in podiatry?

-Unsure and frustrated
Ocpmguy


Also sorry for being vague, I'm trying to remain annonymous for now.

Unfortunately I'm sure you'll run into people who will make it an issue, but I don't know that podiatry will be any different than many other professions. We had a few gay students come through my residency program and it never was much of an issue. Most of the time the topic never came up. Although you will find some "dingus" as @bobtheweazel calls them, I don't think you'll find it widespread enough to prevent you from working in a state you want to work in. If I were you (I'm not gay, btw) I wouldn't shy away from it if the topic comes up (which it may not) but I wouldn't use it as your opening line of introduction either 🙂

 

[bobtheweazel]

Lol, I don't remember what profane word I used, but I didn't see that it was autocorrected to dingus.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Lol, I don't remember what profane word I used, but I didn't see that it was autocorrected to dingus.

I forgot that was the term the profanity filter corrects to. I thought it was just your choice of words 😀

 

[PinkDaisys]

Everywhere/anywhere you go there are good people and bad people. Being an alum, I'm sure you can find/make friends who arent judgemental

 

[Sgibsondpm]

I'm currently a 2nd yr resident at very competitive residency program. When I externed at my program as a 4th yr student I didn't talk about my personal life deliberately for fear of discrimination in our already very competitive residency situation. I also feel it's not professional to discuss this anyway. I am
and have always been completely out with my family, friends and to everyone at podiatry school that includes all students and staff. My wife actually attended podiatry school as well 2 years behind me and everyone knew we were together. We went to the California School of Podiatry Medicine in Oakland CA, so granted people are much more liberal there than elsewhere but I did all my externships on the East coast and Michigan (I did this deliberately because I wanted to have more of a well rounded education and training since podiatry is quite regional regarding surgical technique and procedures). When it came to my caspr application under the emergency contact info section I put my wife's name as usual and for a moment I questioned what to put regarding "relationship to applicant" but then I realized that I'm not about to start lying about myself now and therefore went ahead and put "spouse". Of course they noticed it, I asked my senior residents after I started as a 1st yr resident and they confirmed they did notice it and then started a discussion regarding those who thought I may be gay while externing etc and we all laughed and it was fine. Bottom line in my situation it didn't matter to my residency director if I was gay or straight or something else. I was a knowledgable student, a hard worker and got along well with everyone. At crip I had a good interview (not a perfect interview, just to help those of you feel better that may feel that they "bombed" the interview). I wanted my program soooo bad, ranked them number 1 and got my number 1 spot. My first day the seniors are asking me how the move from California across the country went "by myself" again for a moment I was worried then thought I can't start off lying to them and say I'm by myself then tell them I'm married in a few days so I simply said "oh I didn't have to move alone, my wife is with me" to which they responded "oh cool" and that was it. I'm out to all my co-residents, attendings, nurses, OR staff, administration etc. etc. and have never had an issue. My wife accompanies me to our residency program events such as christmas parties etc. where spouses are invited and again everyone gets along well.

The purpose of my story is to let you now you're not alone as an LGBT person in podiatry and many programs will not judge you for it. Unfortunately I feel that there will be some programs that may not be so welcoming . The way I look at it is think about is the emotional toll of what it would like to take be in a program that was homophobic, the mental anguish and self loathing that it would perpetuate within you isn't worth it. So that's why you should be yourself but don't flaunt it, don't talk about personal stuff when externing (believe me as a resident I could careless about the fact that you haven't done your presentation because you got engaged this weekend... Yes that really happened). As long as you work hard, show up prepared, help the resident with rounding and setting up the OR etc. you will do fine at most programs, good luck!

 

[greenri]

I'm currently a 2nd yr resident at very competitive residency program. When I externed at my program as a 4th yr student I didn't talk about my personal life deliberately for fear of discrimination in our already very competitive residency situation. I also feel it's not professional to discuss this anyway. I am
and have always been completely out with my family, friends and to everyone at podiatry school that includes all students and staff. My wife actually attended podiatry school as well 2 years behind me and everyone knew we were together. We went to the California School of Podiatry Medicine in Oakland CA, so granted people are much more liberal there than elsewhere but I did all my externships on the East coast and Michigan (I did this deliberately because I wanted to have more of a well rounded education and training since podiatry is quite regional regarding surgical technique and procedures). When it came to my caspr application under the emergency contact info section I put my wife's name as usual and for a moment I questioned what to put regarding "relationship to applicant" but then I realized that I'm not about to start lying about myself now and therefore went ahead and put "spouse". Of course they noticed it, I asked my senior residents after I started as a 1st yr resident and they confirmed they did notice it and then started a discussion regarding those who thought I may be gay while externing etc and we all laughed and it was fine. Bottom line in my situation it didn't matter to my residency director if I was gay or straight or something else. I was a knowledgable student, a hard worker and got along well with everyone. At crip I had a good interview (not a perfect interview, just to help those of you feel better that may feel that they "bombed" the interview). I wanted my program soooo bad, ranked them number 1 and got my number 1 spot. My first day the seniors are asking me how the move from California across the country went "by myself" again for a moment I was worried then thought I can't start off lying to them and say I'm by myself then tell them I'm married in a few days so I simply said "oh I didn't have to move alone, my wife is with me" to which they responded "oh cool" and that was it. I'm out to all my co-residents, attendings, nurses, OR staff, administration etc. etc. and have never had an issue. My wife accompanies me to our residency program events such as christmas parties etc. where spouses are invited and again everyone gets along well.

The purpose of my story is to let you now you're not alone as an LGBT person in podiatry and many programs will not judge you for it. Unfortunately I feel that there will be some programs that may not be so welcoming . The way I look at it is think about is the emotional toll of what it would like to take be in a program that was homophobic, the mental anguish and self loathing that it would perpetuate within you isn't worth it. So that's why you should be yourself but don't flaunt it, don't talk about personal stuff when externing (believe me as a resident I could careless about the fact that you haven't done your presentation because you got engaged this weekend... Yes that really happened). As long as you work hard, show up prepared, help the resident with rounding and setting up the OR etc. you will do fine at most programs, good luck!

First off, Ohiocpmguy, you are definitely not alone in being the only person who is gay in podiatry. I don't know about Kent, but I go to DMU and part of the reason I chose it was the visibility of open allies on campus from the time I even visited campus (Safe Zone Stickers/Gay Straight Alliance Posters/Multicultural Affairs Office). I felt mostly okay about being out among my peers- our class is so small that it was hard to be closeted anyway... haha.

I don't know how the residency part works though, I am currently in my second year of school and starting to think about 4th year externships. Sgibsondpm, I was curious about how to know that a place will be accepting of you, if you don't bring it up on rotations. That is one thing that has been concerning me. I don't want extern at a program, love it, end up getting matched to that residency, and then find out that it is 3 years of discrimination that I dragged my spouse into as well.

I have already had an instance of speaking with a director and sort-of skirting around the issue because I was afraid that I would affect his opinion of me and the chances of me getting a residency spot. I was maybe too concerned about it being an issue and things would have been fine, but you never really know! It is just so hard when residencies are on the line.

How did you really avoid talking about family life and everything for a whole month at each place?

Nevertheless, It is wonderful hearing that you had a good experience. It is definitely reassuring- thanks for sharing!

 

[Rockincazz]

I have a concern that's been itching at me for a while now. I've always wondered if I was the only gay/lgbt pod student at Kent. I haven't come out to many people although I'm sure most of my class would be cool with it. I guess I'm not what some people consider "stereotypical" so I've gotten this far without being asked, but it is really difficult and I feel isolated at times.

I don't really know how/when/if I should come out and I hate that I even have to ask this in 2015. I'm mainly worried about how to approach this in residency and as a practitioner.
My suspicion is that I should keep quiet since medicine in general is very conservative and, unfortunately, lgbt discrimination isn't illegal in any of the states I want to work in and I don't want it keeping me from opportunities. However, I'm curious if anyone else has insight on this. Does anyone have any experience with being out in podiatry?

I'm a gay 4th year at Kent. Don't worry about externships and residencies. All my externships have been very accepting about the fact I was gay. I didn't need to hide it. And if they weren't you wouldn't want to go there anyway right? I'm sure you might come across some people at places that are not as accepting. Gotta be yourself tho.

 

[Foot_Funguy]

I'm gay and talk about my life and partner (of 6 years) just as much as the next guy talks about his wife/girlfriend. You're right, it's 2015/16. The longer you hold out, the more awkward you might feel "coming out." I have never, ever felt judged by classmates or anyone in admin for being gay. In fact, during my interview I spoke about how my partner had been instrumental and supportive throughout the entire process -- completing my bachelor's degree, MCAT, application cycle, etc. He's my rock.

Even if I were single, I would still feel comfortable sharing my dating experiences with classmates (as they do), perhaps planning to get married and start a family someday, or whatever other aspirations you have with regards to a relationship. Life in med school is too cray! From the beginning I was honest with myself and others, feeling comfortable with opening up about who I was as a person because I wanted them to do the same.

Also, my partner and I are starting a family via IVF in July. I love sharing our surrogacy journey just as much as the next LDS dude wants to talk about his wife who's pregnant with their 5th kid. Haha! Love yourself. Be kind. Be true to yourself. Have faith that everything will work out... because everything always works out. PM me if you need some more support.

(Btw, I come from a big Mormon family so I say that with love 🙂