Gay/Lesbians

[Yutis]

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So, are there any gay/lesbian doctors/med-students out there. I was wondering if you felt it affected your admissions or employment oppertunities, especially for those men w/ effeminate voices and such. Just wondering!

 

[MahlerROCKS]

So, are there any gay/lesbian doctors/med-students out there. I was wondering if you felt it affected your admissions or employment oppertunities, especially for those men w/ effeminate voices and such. Just wondering!

I don't know, we'll see. I have done research for a few years, and I have NEVER brought-up the subject, even though as you noted, I do have a rather effeminate voice and mannerisms, so its quite apparent. Nonetheless, when I apply this summer I will mention it in my PS because being gay and being active in the gay community it is such a major part of me, and ultimately, I would like to work in the gay community because even though economically the glbt community can afford access to proper health care, there is still a lot of discrimination (the Advocate just published an article that only 1 in 3 gay teens have told their doctors about their sexuality). I don't know how well it will be received, especially because I am worried that I might overkill the gay subject when I mention it: to most heterosexuals its OK to be gay, but its not OK to be too open about it--I'm just afraid I might cross this line

 

[Chulito]

Mahler-

The problem of being too vocal about gay issues and your sexual identity during the application process does not apply nearly as much if you are intent on working in an area where gay people are highly represented. After all, you need to talk about why you are so compelled to work in that area, and your own identity is very relevant. I work in a combination skilled-nursing and adult-day-health facility for people with HIV/AIDS. The majority of our patients are or have been homeless for much of their lives, and they are virtually all very poor. Mental illness is rampant in our population. We work with many primary-care physicians who are dedicated to such patients, plus HIV doctors, psychiatrists and a host of other specialists. I should also mention that, in spite of trends that are changing the ratios, our patients are about 90% men, of whom about 75-80% are gay. That is just to give you an idea of one sort of work and the level of need that is out there. Not all gay people are rich.

Yutis-

I am not yet a med student and far from being a doctor, but I have worked and volunteered in community clinics and the aforementioned HIV/AIDS facility and have been involved in Spanish interpreting and other work in clincs and hospitals. I have also interviewed at four med schools so far. I have never once felt that *anyone* cared one bit about my sexuality. It has always been a total non-issue. I am not flamboyant and my voice is not effeminate, but anyone who has spent much time around gay people recognizes immediately that I am "a member of the church," so I have to assume that at least a good percentage of the people I have worked and interviewed with figured it out as well. I have known more extravagant gay men and numerous...counter-culture-looking lesbians in the health fields, and they have had the same experience, without exception. I certainly don't mean to imply that there is no anti-queer prejudice in the medical community; health-care professionals are only human and they come with the same range of human characters as the rest of the world. But that particular prejudice seems much rarer than it is in society at large, and those who harbor negative sentiments keep them to themselves.

I suppose I should ask where you two are from, however. I can really only speak of the coastal Northwest, of course.

 

[wolfram241]

Type in "gay" in the search bar and I guarantee you absolutely fabulous results.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Type in "gay" in the search bar and I guarantee you absolutely fabulous results.

I'd have to agree with wolfram, Yutis. Asking about issues with sexual orientation in the medical profession is perfectly legitimate, but these threads always seem to deteriorate into something ugly, especially in the pre-allo forum. I doubt there's much new that hasn't been covered in the last year, and there's a whole bunch of threads on file. Some threads actually had decent discussions before they crashed and burned.

 

[MahlerROCKS]

Mahler-

Not all gay people are rich.

I absolutely agree: I orignially wrote a comment about this in my post, but I deleted it before I posted. I think one of the major problems with they perception of the gay community in society is that everyoen still thinks of gays as rich, WASPy, well educated gay men, when in reality the gay community spans all races and all income brackets.

 

[grandslam521]

I wouldn't say I have any stereotypically gay characterstics, but I brought up my sexuality during interviews including at a school in a pretty socially conservative state. I more or less talked about how coming to terms with my sexuality and recognizing its implications has greatly contributed to my tolerance and compassion for other people. The interviewers didn't seemed turned off by this, but you never know. By the way, I was accepted to the school I mentioned at the beginning of the post, but it is also my state school.

I would hope that interviewers wouldn't discriminate or inappropriately judge one based on their sexuality, but I'm sure it occurs. If more than one interviewer and/or the admission staff seem homophobic, then you probably don't want to go to that school anyway. Good luck 🙂

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Type in "gay" in the search bar and I guarantee you absolutely fabulous results.

lol took me a second to realize you meant SDN search function.

thought you were referring to google, which would give you few happy results...

 

[DoctorMom78]

So, are there any gay/lesbian doctors/med-students out there. I was wondering if you felt it affected your admissions or employment oppertunities, especially for those men w/ effeminate voices and such. Just wondering!

I am not gay, but I wanted to post on this thread anyway. I have worked with a gay (male) NP and at least in terms of how the patients and other staff viewed him, there was really no issue. I would imagine that you will run into the same ignorance and close-mindedness that you would find in any profession. I think that many people will be very accepting of your sexual orientation and then there will be a few people that are bigots and will hold it against you. I would hope that we have come far enough as a society that you would all be given a fair chance at gaining an acceptance. Good luck to you all! 😀

 

[Yutis]

I come from Michigan, which is 1/2 Bible Belt *The West side and all of the Yoppers up in the UP* I live outside Detroit and I plan on going to Wayne State (and their med school later, but thats.... much later) Majority of our state is Homophobic. I also being an advocate for gay rights *im not out, infact no one actually knows people just think im a straight guy who's pro gay rights* am a bit at ends. My HS is horrid, it's taboo to say homosexual or gay there. *the biggest narrowminded fundamentalist city in the state, mind you*. But anyway, I was descriminated against at my work a lot for being gay *they guessed and harrassed me* I report it to the management and the management basically told me deal w/ it or get the hell out.

So I've had, very, very bad experiences w/ homophobic people.

 

[dilantin]

and why exactly should that matter?
Let me rephrase your question - how does being a hetero- student affect my chances of getting in to medical school?
The answer - it does not. For a very simple reason that I do not necessarily announce my preferences.
I suggest you do the same.

regards,
dilantin

 

[smq123]

and why exactly should that matter?
Let me rephrase your question - how does being a hetero- student affect my chances of getting in to medical school?
The answer - it does not. For a very simple reason that I do not necessarily announce my preferences.
I suggest you do the same.

regards,
dilantin

I think you missed the point.

I believe the original question was: What if you have certain "effeminate" mannerisms, or an "effeminate" voice, that causes people to assume that you're gay? How would this affect the outcome of a medical school interview? How does this change how professors and patients interact with you?

The OP says that, based on his mannerisms and voice, his coworkers assumed that he is gay, and gave him a hard time about it. The OP is clearly worried that there could be another similar experience later on in his professional career as a physician/med student.

 

[GoodDoctor]

and why exactly should that matter?
Let me rephrase your question - how does being a hetero- student affect my chances of getting in to medical school?
The answer - it does not. For a very simple reason that I do not necessarily announce my preferences.
I suggest you do the same.

regards,
dilantin

You announce your preferences with every casual reference to a wife, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, girl-you-dated, etc. As a straight person, you probably never think about "hiding" or "announcing" that you're straight. Try going a day without making one single comment that "outs" you as straight. Talk about your life without using pronouns. Talk about your girlfriend as "the person I'm dating" or about your wife as your "partner" and see if people react differently.

In normal conversations, people "announce" many things about themselves. You "announce" all sorts of things about yourself when you talk about your life, your interests, your family, your goals, your community involvements, etc. You may find out a non-stereotypically white person is Hispanic when he talks about growing up bilingual. You may find out someone is Jewish because of thier involvement at the Jewish Community Center. Do you "announce" your religion by casually talking about going to church on Sunday? No, you're just having a normal, everyday conversations about your life, which is part of normal human social interaction.

Should a gay person who acts stereotypically gay have to try to act more "straight"? Should applicants with foreign accents try to suppress their accent to seem more "American"? Should muslims or hindus who wear certain religious garb or markings dress in a way to seem more "christian"? People are who they are. They are not making grand "announcements" -- they are just being themselves and living their lives.

 

[dilantin]

wow, talk about grandstanding....

While I agree with most of the comments, and being a very tolerant person myself, I just feel a little uneasy, as if my tolerance is betrayed by someone asking a question point blank - how does being "stereotypical" affects one's life.
What I was trying to say is that for every quirk of personality that you exhibit (be it religious affiliation, foreign accent, lifestyle etc.) there is a trade off in every walk of life. In some spheres it may be more apparent - it can go both ways - ie.g. engineering/finance vs. art/design 🙂.

So for someone who is true to one's values the question is really pointless. Because you wouldn't (should not at least) change to conform to smn's standards, as pointed by GoodDr. Most importantly such question is very egocentric - because for the most part noone really gives a damn about your orientation as long as it is not "in your face". And please spare me the lecture about "indirect announcements".

dilantin

 

[jeffCAandTX]

GoodDoctor makes some very good points.

I actually contacted the leader of the LGBT group at UCSF med school (because I was attending UC Berkeley, ~15 minutes away) and he had some really useful information about being gay in medical school. He's a really nice guy, I'm sure he would be happy to answer any of your questions (you can find the info on UCSF's webpage). I would say that when interviewing at the California med schools, you should have no problem.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

One of our associate deans is a dude who is into dudes, and one of our course directors is a lady into ladies. Not a big deal.

 

[kevster2001]

i would hope not but the world's not perfect

 

[Cirrus83]

(I'm not gay either, but figured I'd throw in my 2 cents)
The only doctor who I know is gay (I might know more gay doctors but obviously they might just not be out) definitely seems to use a different voice when talking with people at work. I only say this because sometimes his voice "cracks" into his other, more effeminate, voice. Of course it's probably because he doesn't want to be out at work (I only know that he's gay from elsewhere, not from the workplace).

Anyways, I guess it depends on the place you're interviewing at and who's the interviewer. If it seems like it'll make the person uncomfortable I'd think it would be better to use a less effeminate voice.

I dunno what effeminate mannerisms would matter though. Unless you plan on doing exaggerated arm flails or something, I don't really see where any mannerisms would really show up in an interview. Even a fairly girly girl wouldn't be particularly girly during a med school interview, so I'm not sure how many opportunities anybody would have to be particularly macho or effeminate during an interview. About the only thing might be the handshake maybe?

But then again maybe I'm too androgynous to know what kinda mannerisms straight guys are supposed to use Are we supposed to walk in with a strut, scratch ourselves, smash the interviewer's hands and belch?

Seriously just be professional, and I'm pretty sure nobody would notice mannerisms one way or another. So really it's just down to whether you want to speak with an effeminate voice or not. Of course if you're used to using that voice it might be hard to not use it without slipping back into the more effeminate voice, or you might seem less natural, so it's really down to a judgement call about how the interviewer will respond.

 

[A Tree]

(I'm not gay either, but figured I'd throw in my 2 cents)
The only doctor who I know is gay (I might know more gay doctors but obviously they might just not be out) definitely seems to use a different voice when talking with people at work. I only say this because sometimes his voice "cracks" into his other, more effeminate, voice. Of course it's probably because he doesn't want to be out at work (I only know that he's gay from elsewhere, not from the workplace).

Anyways, I guess it depends on the place you're interviewing at and who's the interviewer. If it seems like it'll make the person uncomfortable I'd think it would be better to use a less effeminate voice.

I dunno what effeminate mannerisms would matter though. Unless you plan on doing exaggerated arm flails or something, I don't really see where any mannerisms would really show up in an interview. Even a fairly girly girl wouldn't be particularly girly during a med school interview, so I'm not sure how many opportunities anybody would have to be particularly macho or effeminate during an interview. About the only thing might be the handshake maybe?

But then again maybe I'm too androgynous to know what kinda mannerisms straight guys are supposed to use Are we supposed to walk in with a strut, scratch ourselves, smash the interviewer's hands and belch?

Seriously just be professional, and I'm pretty sure nobody would notice mannerisms one way or another. So really it's just down to whether you want to speak with an effeminate voice or not. Of course if you're used to using that voice it might be hard to not use it without slipping back into the more effeminate voice, or you might seem less natural, so it's really down to a judgement call about how the interviewer will respond.

I have witnessed a few gay friends in the hospital, or doing consults over the phone, and they do have a different voice, but it's hard to say whether it's a gay/not gay voice or a drunk/not drunk voice. It's anyone's guess...

Oh and I kiss my interviewers on the cheek twice, male or female...is that too gay for interview day?

 

[Cirrus83]

Oh and I kiss my interviewers on the cheek twice, male or female...is that too gay for interview day?

lol, the only problem I have with that is that I never expect it!
Well, actually, I've never had a guy try to do that to me, since it's not really culturally acceptable in the US far as I know, lol.

But when women do it (not very often, since most people I hang out with don't do the kissing thing, so only when I'm hanging out with people I don't usually hang out with will this ever happen), I never actually expect them to, so I never reciprocate since my brain is still trying to figure out what's going on, and by the time it figures it out it's too late to reciprocate without looking like a weirdo.

Do you expect the interviewers to reciprocate? Just wondering. Cuz I never know what I'm supposed to do.

 

[A Tree]

lol, the only problem I have with that is that I never expect it!
Well, actually, I've never had a guy try to do that to me, since it's not really culturally acceptable in the US far as I know, lol.

But when women do it (not very often, since most people I hang out with don't do the kissing thing, so only when I'm hanging out with people I don't usually hang out with will this ever happen), I never actually expect them to, so I never reciprocate since my brain is still trying to figure out what's going on, and by the time it figures it out it's too late to reciprocate without looking like a weirdo.

Do you expect the interviewers to reciprocate? Just wondering. Cuz I never know what I'm supposed to do.

No I don't really have that kind of chutzpah...just a firm handshake. 🙂

My gay male friends are VERY kissy kissy with everyone except straight men--obviously it's awkward when you aren't really thinking about it and some poor straight guy gets put in an awkward position. I've had the boyfriends of some of my female friends start the cheek-kissing thing just because they felt left out when everyone is saying goodbye. (bye jane kiss kiss, bye big gay al kiss kiss, bye alice kiss kiss, *deep voice* bye bob *firm handshake* bob says "what am I, chopped liver?")

Don't even get me started on the hello/goodbye lip-kissers.

 

[Chulito]

Bye jane kiss kiss, bye big gay al kiss kiss, bye alice kiss kiss, *deep voice* bye bob *firm handshake* bob says "what am I, chopped liver?")

Don't even get me started on the hello/goodbye lip-kissers.

Big gay Al, I'd like to see him. But really, does your crowd really do the Euro kiss-kiss here at home, one American to another? I do that with European friends when I'm in Europe, but not here in the States, not even with my European friends.

 

[IceMan0824]

Move this thread already.

Ahh, my virgin pre-allo eyes.

 

[Dr. Josh]

From my understanding a lot of old time docs are pretty conservative, and whereas many people are pretty acceptnig of gays, most aren't really acceptable of those who flaunt it; so I'd just be as conservative as possible and not throw it in the interviewers' face...you never know how they'll respond to it.

 

[polycon7]

No I don't really have that kind of chutzpah...just a firm handshake. 🙂

My gay male friends are VERY kissy kissy with everyone except straight men--obviously it's awkward when you aren't really thinking about it and some poor straight guy gets put in an awkward position. I've had the boyfriends of some of my female friends start the cheek-kissing thing just because they felt left out when everyone is saying goodbye. (bye jane kiss kiss, bye big gay al kiss kiss, bye alice kiss kiss, *deep voice* bye bob *firm handshake* bob says "what am I, chopped liver?")

Don't even get me started on the hello/goodbye lip-kissers.

Yeah, the hello/goodbye lip kissers!! When I first saw that between acquaintances I was totally thrown off. haha..Nothing really shocks me anymore since I live in Vegas but that was pretty surprising.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

I can tell you that mannerisms, handshakes, masculinity, femininity are totally separate from heterosexuality and homosexuality. Our "American" (all of America, N & S) culture is very much into the machismo ideal that straight women and homosexual men must be feminine and straight men and homosexual women must be masculine. You'd be surprised that in the real world it doesn't work that way.

A professor that I work with has no idea that I'm homosexual. You could consider me "masculine" as that's who I am, not because of my sexual orientation. He loves making fun of his other TAs calling them "maricón", which in Spanish slang means "faggót" in the derogatory sense. I have to bite my tongue and let it slide because he's written LORs for me and I have to work with this guy. I always have the awkward situations arise where people start talking about their boyfriend or girlfriend, getting married, holding hands in public, etc.

Some of you will never realize what it's like to be outside of the accepted norm of middle-class white america, such as being poor, being gay, having AIDS, being depressed, being a person of color, etc.. In my mind, and you can rip this ideal to shreds for all I care, is that a physician must understand how the world works and should strive to be a professional, eager to work with all humans regardless of what or who they are. So you can continue spouting off that you don't want people "in your face" because it upsets your sensibilities. Realize and embrace that you're a bigot and be honest about it.

 

[GoodDoctor]

OP, you will be interviewing with doctors, PhDs, and students who are well educated and have been exposed to people from all wallks of life. If you are confident about who you are and act professionally and naturally, my guess is you won't have a problem.

Noone ever thinks I'm gay, so I can't speak for myself on this, but my spouse (partner/boyfriend/significant-other) is so effeminate he's practically a breast. (name that movie). I've seen home videos from when he was a kid, and there's no question he was born gay (the best "Gem and the Misfits" impression I've ever seen on tape). The thing is, he is so natural and comfortable and elegant and charming, that absolutely no one cares he is so obviously gay. He has a successful business, won an award presented by the governor and a senator for his work with children, and was begged to be a substitute teacher at our son's private school. We live in Utah.

 

[smq123]

most aren't really acceptable of those who flaunt it; so I'd just be as conservative as possible and not throw it in the interviewers' face...you never know how they'll respond to it.

AHHHH!!! Phrases like that annoy the hell out of me, and I'm not even gay!!

What *exactly* does "not flaunting it" entail? Are you supposed to suddenly go deaf if the interviewer asks if you're married? Or pretend that you didn't understand the question? Or are you supposed to lie through your teeth and brag about how many girlfriends you've had?

And I'm straight. Does that mean I can "flaunt" my heterosexuality around? (How do you even do that?)

I'm probably overreacting - I've been abnormally cranky this week. Maybe you were really trying to give people good advice. But I really believe that medicine is supposed to be one of the few professions that doesn't allow itself indulge in stereotypes like these.

 

[smq123]

I always have the awkward situations arise where people start talking about their boyfriend or girlfriend, getting married, holding hands in public, etc.

Sadly, these probably won't go away when you get to med school. The first few months of med school, everyone asked everyone else if they were married/single/dating. Whenever I said that I was single, people always offered to set me up. I don't know why med school would unleash everyone's hormones, but it does.

I agree with GoodDoctor - just be yourself and be confident in who you are. At this stage in your life, you shouldn't have to justify your personal life to everyone else.

 

[smq123]

I've seen home videos from when he was a kid, and there's no question he was born gay (the best "Gem and the Misfits" impression I've ever seen on tape).

Hahaha! This made water shoot out my nose! Very hilarious.

One of my gay friends said that, when he played Little League, EVERYONE (his little league coach, his dad, his uncle, his neighbor) used to say to him, "There's something funny about the way you throw the ball. I can't put my finger on it, though...." He was like, "I guess they figured it out by now!"

 

[Dr. Josh]

AHHHH!!! Phrases like that annoy the hell out of me, and I'm not even gay!!

What *exactly* does "not flaunting it" entail? Are you supposed to suddenly go deaf if the interviewer asks if you're married? Or pretend that you didn't understand the question? Or are you supposed to lie through your teeth and brag about how many girlfriends you've had?

And I'm straight. Does that mean I can "flaunt" my heterosexuality around? (How do you even do that?)

I'm probably overreacting - I've been abnormally cranky this week. Maybe you were really trying to give people good advice. But I really believe that medicine is supposed to be one of the few professions that doesn't allow itself indulge in stereotypes like these.

You are definitely over-reacting and I was just trying to give some good advice, for what it's worth. As I said some of the older docs are from a different generation and are not accepting of things we consider second nature today. No one is saying to lie when asked a question; I was just implying one should not bring up their homosexuality and continue to reference it more than one should bring up them being a born again Christian or any other "classification".

 

[Nuriko]

I didnt bring up my sexuality in interviews, although I did mention it when applying as part of an extracurricular. I do talk in somewhat of an effeminate voice, but no exaggerated lisp or anything like that. I cant say that it didnt have a complete effect, but I cant be sure. Either way, I got acceptances to schools Im happy with, so its all good.

 

[crimsonkid85]

if you're gay and chosing a med school, do many of you think about the issue of if there are ... well, OTHER gay people at the school/surrounding area? i mean, it's 4 years of your life (7-8 if you're MSTP), and that's like most of your 20's! i can't help but think it would be terribly lonely to go to an institution that may be ACCEPTING, but then you ending up being one of like 5 total gay people in the whole school. am i the only person wondering about this?

 

[Flopotomist]

I go to a school where there is a grand total of TWO of us in first year, none in second year, none in third year, and 2 in fourth year.

It is a bit different being in such a dramatic minority, and I would urge the OP to carefully consider how comfortable he would be in an environment like this. Although people here are (generally) accepting, I have had enough negative experiences to remind me that I am no longer in California.

 

[Tatowedges]

Having 5 people that are openly gay in a class is not too bad. There is that assumed 1:10 ratio of homosexuality to heterosexuality in the general population. In a class of 150, maybe 10 more aren't yet ready to come out.

But crimson, this would be a huge concern of mine if I were gay. Even though I'm not, I'd much rather prefer to be in a gay-friendly environment. I love the new perspectives I've seen through the eyes of gay friends. I would be reluctant to give that up.

 

[crimsonkid85]

Having 5 people that are openly gay in a class is not too bad. There is that assumed 1:10 ratio of homosexuality to heterosexuality in the general population. In a class of 150, maybe 10 more aren't yet ready to come out.

But crimson, this would be a huge concern of mine if I were gay. Even though I'm not, I'd much rather prefer to be in a gay-friendly environment. I love the new perspectives I've seen through the eyes of gay friends. I would be reluctant to give that up.

thanks for your input! back to what the op was asking, i have never experienced discrimination due to the fact that i am gay. i tend to be more effeminate with peers than adults, but i'm pretty sure inteviewers can still pick up gay vibes (or whatever) from me. nevertheless, though, i think that there is still a very big difference between not being discriminated against, versus a school that actually has a gay population (n=2 is NOT a population). i mean, this was one of my problems at WashU. sure, everybody there is nice, professional, etc, and i didn't experience anything negative there, but um, st. louis? i remember in the unofficial guide they passed out, the ONE gay student (who was a first year MSTP) who wrote blurbs was like 'yea, me and my partner of 5 years' or something. okay, but what if i don't have a partner of 5 years. where am i gonna look? *sigh*

 

[smq123]

nevertheless, though, i think that there is still a very big difference between not being discriminated against, versus a school that actually has a gay population (n=2 is NOT a population).

I'm really sorry, but 2 openly gay students/class is about as good as you can hope for. (With the exception of certain schools in CA and maybe NYU.) 4 would probably be a lot.

i mean, this was one of my problems at WashU. sure, everybody there is nice, professional, etc, and i didn't experience anything negative there, but um, st. louis? i remember in the unofficial guide they passed out, the ONE gay student (who was a first year MSTP) who wrote blurbs was like 'yea, me and my partner of 5 years' or something. okay, but what if i don't have a partner of 5 years. where am i gonna look? *sigh*

Are you worried about being lonely dating-wise or friend-wise? If you worried about being lonely dating-wise...there are a lot of straight people in med school who don't find anyone to date in their school. Even for straight people, the dating pool isn't so great. Everyone is married, dating, engaged, or just plain WEIRD. A lot of people stay single for all 4 years. In fact, some people swear (from personal experience) that dating someone who is IN your school is a terrible idea. (They have a point, I must admit.) A lot of my classmates used match.com, or were set up with friends-of-friends...unless you go to school in hicksville, it's not ALL bleak.

 

[LoneCoyote]

thanks for your input! back to what the op was asking, i have never experienced discrimination due to the fact that i am gay. i tend to be more effeminate with peers than adults, but i'm pretty sure inteviewers can still pick up gay vibes (or whatever) from me. nevertheless, though, i think that there is still a very big difference between not being discriminated against, versus a school that actually has a gay population (n=2 is NOT a population). i mean, this was one of my problems at WashU. sure, everybody there is nice, professional, etc, and i didn't experience anything negative there, but um, st. louis? i remember in the unofficial guide they passed out, the ONE gay student (who was a first year MSTP) who wrote blurbs was like 'yea, me and my partner of 5 years' or something. okay, but what if i don't have a partner of 5 years. where am i gonna look? *sigh*

At most schools you will be lucky to have a few GLBT students in a class. And this is often true in CA as well, from my experience and what I have heard from other med students. As someone else mentioned dating in medical school is not easy for anyone, gay or straight. But I would definitely look for schools in cities with access to a larger GLBT community. I think it makes things easier in general, not only for dating purposes.

 

[A Tree]

I'm really sorry, but 2 openly gay students/class is about as good as you can hope for. (With the exception of certain schools in CA and maybe NYU.) 4 would probably be a lot.



Are you worried about being lonely dating-wise or friend-wise? If you worried about being lonely dating-wise...there are a lot of straight people in med school who don't find anyone to date in their school. Even for straight people, the dating pool isn't so great. Everyone is married, dating, engaged, or just plain WEIRD. A lot of people stay single for all 4 years. In fact, some people swear (from personal experience) that dating someone who is IN your school is a terrible idea. (They have a point, I must admit.) A lot of my classmates used match.com, or were set up with friends-of-friends...unless you go to school in hicksville, it's not ALL bleak.

I think it's more about having a large proportion of your time spent around people with whom you feel comfortable being gay. Because it's so stigmatized, even when you're not in a professional setting per se, gay people feel like they have to be conscious not to do anything 'wrong' because of their sexuality. It's exhausting! I think anyone going to medical school should at least have that variable under control -- ie, not have to put a lot of effort into gay social life -- because god knows we'll have enough to worry about with medical school.

Crimson - fabulous job so far. Cornell would be an EXCELLENT choice as far as this thread is concerned. And an even better one professionally... 🙂

 

[crimsonkid85]

At most schools you will be lucky to have a few GLBT students in a class. And this is often true in CA as well, from my experience and what I have heard from other med students. As someone else mentioned dating in medical school is not easy for anyone, gay or straight. But I would definitely look for schools in cities with access to a larger GLBT community. I think it makes things easier in general, not only for dating purposes.

this is so depressing. too bad UCSF rejected me right off the bat. 😡

 

[LoneCoyote]

this is so depressing. too bad UCSF rejected me right off the bat. 😡

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. GLBT community was definitely an issue for me when I applied. Luckily, I'm partnered and have not had to date in med school, but it has been hard for my friends who have had too. Try to talk to GLBT students at the school. The AMSA website has some contacts for each school usually. Also, even if the city isn;t the greatest, if the school is attached to a larger university there may be other groups you can get involved in. Here we just had a mixer with the GLBT law and vet students since all of the professional schools do not have huge numbers of GLBT students, but together it is a larger community.

 

[Chulito]

this is so depressing. too bad UCSF rejected me right off the bat. 😡

If an accepting and sizable GLBT community is an important factor for you and research is your direction, I'm surprised that you didn't accept the interview at U of Washington. Second only to Harvard in NIH funding, insane number of MD/PhD students, and Seattle has the second highest per-capita gay population in the country (after SF) and highest per-capita under-25 gay population. May I ask why?

 

[smq123]

I think it's more about having a large proportion of your time spent around people with whom you feel comfortable being gay. Because it's so stigmatized, even when you're not in a professional setting per se, gay people feel like they have to be conscious not to do anything 'wrong' because of their sexuality. It's exhausting! I think anyone going to medical school should at least have that variable under control -- ie, not have to put a lot of effort into gay social life -- because god knows we'll have enough to worry about with medical school.

I'm sorry but I really have no idea what this post means! Why can't gay people feel comfortable around accepting and open minded classmates? And what exactly does "gay social life" entail? I'm sorry - I really have no clue! 😳

As long as you live in an area that has a reasonably sized gay community, you can find people to date. It might involve match.com (or something like it), going out to the local gay bars a few times, but it is do-able. I do not advise ANYONE (gay OR straight) to plan on dating people in your class. If you find someone you click with, fine. But I think it's a situation that involves caution. There are other threads on this topic, but the idea of "don't $#!^ where you eat" definitely applies.

 

[crimsonkid85]

If an accepting and sizable GLBT community is an important factor for you and research is your direction, I'm surprised that you didn't accept the interview at U of Washington. Second only to Harvard in NIH funding, insane number of MD/PhD students, and Seattle has the second highest per-capita gay population in the country (after SF) and highest per-capita under-25 gay population. May I ask why?

okay this sounds stupid, but i swear it's not. i have a problem with no sunlight. i'm in boston now, and if i don't see sunlight for prolonged periods of time (even if it's just overcast), i get terribly terribly depressed. i have like 5 100W bulbs in my room, all pointed towards me. (and i live in a tiny little dorm room). second reason: i absolutely am TERRIFIED of getting wet when I'm not supposed to. i can barely function when it rains. yes, it SUCKS in boston, but at least a lot of the time it's snow and not water. because seattle is like one of the most rain-heavy and cloudy places in the world, i honestly just chickened out. 🙁 please don't judge me! my parents actually said to me: 'why don't you go to seattle? there are lots of nice gay men there!' and i thought: 'what a great idea!' until i realized i would probably kill myself after two wks because of the weather....

 

[CCLCMer]

So, are there any gay/lesbian doctors/med-students out there. I was wondering if you felt it affected your admissions or employment oppertunities, especially for those men w/ effeminate voices and such. Just wondering!

There aren't any openly gay students in my class that I know of, but there are some in the other classes and in the UP (the main Case program). I think that Case in general is a pretty gay-friendly school. Check out this article, for example. The guy who is starting the clinic, Dr. Ng, is a gay physician at Metro who has come to speak to us at CCF a couple of times. He was here today, actually. 🙂

Is there any reason why you must go to Wayne St. for college and med school? Maybe you're in some kind of combined BS/MD program or something? If you aren't, you might reconsider your plans. I mean, even if you're just trying to save money by going to college in state, why not at least check out U Mich? I got the impression that Ann Arbor is a pretty liberal place. And why limit yourself to one med school before you've even started college and gotten to know more about what else is out there? Most people apply to at least half a dozen schools. Just a thought.

 

[A Tree]

I'm sorry but I really have no idea what this post means! Why can't gay people feel comfortable around accepting and open minded classmates? And what exactly does "gay social life" entail? I'm sorry - I really have no clue! 😳

As long as you live in an area that has a reasonably sized gay community, you can find people to date. It might involve match.com (or something like it), going out to the local gay bars a few times, but it is do-able. I do not advise ANYONE (gay OR straight) to plan on dating people in your class. If you find someone you click with, fine. But I think it's a situation that involves caution. There are other threads on this topic, but the idea of "don't $#!^ where you eat" definitely applies.

I certainly didn't mean that a gay person wouldn't be thrilled to be in a class with open and accepting straight classmates. It's more like what some friends and I say to each other from time to time: "I really need to be around gay people right now." It's half-joke/half-serious. I think for many in med school life is easier if they don't have to brainstorm about how to do that. And I'm not really talking about dating either ... that's hard for everyone.

 

[Nuriko]

thanks for your input! back to what the op was asking, i have never experienced discrimination due to the fact that i am gay. i tend to be more effeminate with peers than adults, but i'm pretty sure inteviewers can still pick up gay vibes (or whatever) from me. nevertheless, though, i think that there is still a very big difference between not being discriminated against, versus a school that actually has a gay population (n=2 is NOT a population). i mean, this was one of my problems at WashU. sure, everybody there is nice, professional, etc, and i didn't experience anything negative there, but um, st. louis? i remember in the unofficial guide they passed out, the ONE gay student (who was a first year MSTP) who wrote blurbs was like 'yea, me and my partner of 5 years' or something. okay, but what if i don't have a partner of 5 years. where am i gonna look? *sigh*

It really sucks to be one of only a few LGBT students at an institution. I went to a small engineering school for college, and while many people didnt discriminate too much, nobody could really empathize much with me, even the most gay-friendly students. Im hoping Ill have a somewhat bigger support group in med school, but well see.

On the plus side, by third year and beyond, youre more or less on your own, and youll have a little more time to look into the LGBT scene in whatever city you end up in. Id say stick close to the metropolitan areas if you can, itll help. Or at least be in a city where rotations are mainly in a downtown area.

 

[Chulito]

okay this sounds stupid, but i swear it's not. i have a problem with no sunlight. i'm in boston now, and if i don't see sunlight for prolonged periods of time (even if it's just overcast), i get terribly terribly depressed. i have like 5 100W bulbs in my room, all pointed towards me. (and i live in a tiny little dorm room). second reason: i absolutely am TERRIFIED of getting wet when I'm not supposed to. i can barely function when it rains. yes, it SUCKS in boston, but at least a lot of the time it's snow and not water. because seattle is like one of the most rain-heavy and cloudy places in the world, i honestly just chickened out. 🙁 please don't judge me! my parents actually said to me: 'why don't you go to seattle? there are lots of nice gay men there!' and i thought: 'what a great idea!' until i realized i would probably kill myself after two wks because of the weather....

No worries. There are lots of factors that go into deciding on a school, and the weather is as valid as many others, especially if you have a cornucopia of offers. I thought that perhaps you didn't know that Seattle was such a gay-friendly city. It does rain a lot here (though the legends are an exaggeration of reality) and it is gray here a lot (though San Francisco is about as gray). I've known several people who moved here and suffered because of the weather, so if that would be a problem for you, best to go elsewhere. It doesn't look as though you have any shortage of options. 👍

 

[ScubaSteve2011]

Seems like the post has been dead for awhile, so I apologize for bringing this back to life...

So, I'm recently 'Out' and am curious as to other's opinions on viable options for a gay med student.

A VA resident and accepted to EVMS, just curious of the vabeach area because it was splendid to have experience Virginia's 'open minded policies' regarding a subset of the residents. I was hoping originally to leave this state and all areas that are considered to be parts of the bible belt; however plans do not always work out, due to a few rejections and two waitlists, one in Portland, OR and the other in Cleveland, OH.

So basically my questions is, are there any gay med students in any of the VA schools and how are the gay communities in vabeach vs. richmond or Charlottesville?

 

[4paw]

Hi there,

I don't know much about virginia...
However, amsa has an lgbt interest group. if you google them, their website also has a sign-up spot for the lgbt list-serv. for med community.

the local bar of course is always easier to find. the web makes that really easy, and if not, a good 'gay guide' to the u.s. buy that online???

from those two sources, you're rockin'.