Lesbians in medicine?

[hunterpostbac]

not that i like to define myself by my sexual orientation or anything, but are there any other lesbians out there going to medical school? i get the impression that things can be pretty homophobic in the med school environment, and i'm prepared to deal with it, but it would be nice if i knew there was a community (albeit small) of lesbian doctors out there somewhere. any thoughts/advice?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Tippy007]

I'm a guy, so I haven't fully researched your question. But, I do know at least one lesbian at a top med school. She is open about it and has no complaints about her fellow students. I hope that helps a little.

 

[UCLAMAN]

not that i like to define myself by my sexual orientation or anything, but are there any other lesbians out there going to medical school? i get the impression that things can be pretty homophobic in the med school environment, and i'm prepared to deal with it, but it would be nice if i knew there was a community (albeit small) of lesbian doctors out there somewhere. any thoughts/advice?

I'd say Northwestern has a decent sized population of gay and lesbian physicians. The OB/gyn dept has 2 lesbians for sure and one gay doc all of whom are pretty cool. There are other docs at NMH who are gay and lesbian. I don't think I have personally known so many gay people until I came to medical school.

 

[medicomel]

Check out the medical schools in which you're interested. They might have a LGBT community for med students.

 

[izzyfine]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

 

[Wednesday]

not that i like to define myself by my sexual orientation or anything, but are there any other lesbians out there going to medical school? i get the impression that things can be pretty homophobic in the med school environment, and i'm prepared to deal with it, but it would be nice if i knew there was a community (albeit small) of lesbian doctors out there somewhere. any thoughts/advice?

Yes, lots. Don't worry. 🙂

On a bit of a different note, there are a lot of threads on here about whether or not to come out in your application that you might find interesting as well.

 

[medicomel]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

That's true only if you hang out in trailer parks and kick it with white trash.
The South can be very gay friendly if you're hanging out/living in trendier areas, or if you live near a university.

 

[Fermata]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

When will people learn.....

There are only two requirements for having backwoods people in your state:
1.) Woods
2.) Beer

 

[hunterpostbac]

thanks for all the info. ..

 

[pathdr2b]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

I've heard of gays leaving schools in the South for schools in the North. And they ain't leaving because because of the weather! 🙄

 

[Fermata]

I've heard of gays leaving schools in the South for schools in the North. And they ain't leaving because because of the weather! 🙄

The South has come a long way in recent times.

Not to say that we don't have our faults, though.

Not 25 years ago New Bern, NC used to have a sign when you entered the city that read "******* turn back". There still is a lot of work to be done.

 

[lolli]

i get the impression that things can be pretty homophobic in the med school environment

Hi there,
I think that you will find that med schools in general are actually more open and accepting than you would expect them to be. I was pleasantly suprized at the gay-friendliness of all of the schools that I inetrviewed at - granted they were all west coast, and mostly UC's - but I think that med schools want to have diverse classes, and queerness is definately a top issue in our nation right now, so people are talking about it a lot right now, from all perspectives. Structurally, I think that you will find support at most med schools for any kind of devience from the stereotypical med student life (what IS the stereotypical med student these days??). I think mostly though, your med school experience will have a lot to do with who your classmates are as individuals. You can have a sense of what kind of students go to different schools, but you will never really know them as individuals until you get there, and get to know them.
In the past I was worried that I would be the first queer person that my classmates would have met, and that I would have to deal with all of the identity-politics b.s. all over again. But then I realized, hey, we've all come from such different places, we all really want to be physicians, we've worked out butts off to get here, and it's going to be wonderful to get to know all of these interesting people. Homophobia, schmomophobia. Queerness isn't as big a deal for me as it used to be - maybe I'm just more comfortable in my own skin nowadays - so if it comes up, I'll deal with it. There are lost of gay docs out there, but really, I'm not sure if I will have more in common with them just because they are gay too.
Really, I do think that it has to do with the other students in your class, and you won't know who they are until you get there. I would agree that it is better to stay in the northeast or the west coast, where the general gay-frienliness factor is higher, and you will have more luck finding support in the outside community.
Good luck with your post-bac! Now go out and enjoy New York!
Lolli

 

[medicomel]

When will people learn.....

There are only two requirements for having backwoods people in your state:
1.) Woods
2.) Beer

Thass right. They ain't nuthin' like Pabst Blue Ribbon in thems woods over yonder.

 

[W222]

A girl in the first year class at one school I know actually brought her girlfriend to class a couple times, no one minded.

 

[bugger]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

As a lesbian woman of color, who has spent 11 years living in the South, it is not that bad. In fact, the communities are often times more supportive and more tight knit than a queer community in a big city. I am currently living in SF (yeah very cliche), and have yet to find a a group of people who I really connect with.
In terms of harrasment for being queer, it happens in every part of the country. I have gotten crap here in SF, Seattle (possibly the worst), North Carolina, Boston. Of course, depending on how well you "pass" in the mainstream for straight determines how much **** you will get. Identifying as a butch woman, I certainly don't pass for straight.... 😀

 

[Deanmonster]

bah, the south is not that gay unfriendly. I've lived in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and New Orleans and you won't have a problem. You might have problems in the country, but med schools are all in cities anyway.

can I watch you play lesbian doctor?

 

[hunterpostbac]

don't worry, i'm not looking at any schools in the south . . .

 

[just_in_time]

I second the gay lesbian doctor motion!

 

[bugger]

I second the gay lesbian doctor motion!

I take it you can't get any action on your own. If a straight woman won't touch you with a ten foot pole, why do you think a gay woman will let you within 20 feet of her. Good luck on that one pal. 👎

 

[just_in_time]

I have no problems getting women.... I just like to watch lesbians. How could you say that when you don't even know what I look like. Relax..... I didn't mean to offend you or the lesbian community.

 

[just_in_time]

In fact one of my good friends is a lesbian.

 

[EMDream]

When will people learn.....

There are only two requirements for having backwoods people in your state:
1.) Woods
2.) Beer

Aaah. Upstate NY.

 

[bugger]

I have no problems getting women.... I just like to watch lesbians. How could you say that when you don't even know what I look like. Relax..... I didn't mean to offend you or the lesbian community.

I am quite realxed, all too often the first comment that comes out of a guys mouth is "can I watch". It is an old, boring, tired comment. At least try to be creative with it. I would be a freakin millionaire if I got a dime every time someone said that.
Just because you have a good friend who is a lesbian, doesn't mean you have a license to make those comments...unless you have been voted an honorary lesbian. Most of my close friends are guys, but that doesn't mean that they can go around asking my girlfriends if they can watch us. Just check yourself. I fully understand wanting to watch lesbians, 👍 ...but it is all about being respectful

 

[hunterpostbac]

i second bugger

 

[LoneCoyote]

hey,

i'm an out lesbian, did not have any problems with it in the application process. i've written more extensively about that in some of the other threads on whether to come out or not. don't worry, there are lesbian doctors out there. you will find people. and from my experience you can find some fantastic mentors out there also. i have been really impressed at how supportive the "network" has been, once i met a doctor who connected me to it. there are not whole lot of us, but the community seems strong if you get involved with it. check out the "women in medicine" conference once you are a med student. it's a great place to meet people and network. ucsf puts on a great lesbian health conference every june around pride weekend. amsa also has a website for glbt med students. the websites for those 3 are below. and most schools i looked at had some sort of glbt group on campus. and if you ever want to chat about any of this, feel free to pm me. good luck 🙂

http://www.womeninmedicine.org/

http://www.lesbianhealthinfo.org/

http://www.amsa.org/adv/lgbtpm/

 

[Deanmonster]

Most of my close friends are guys, but that doesn't mean that they can go around asking my girlfriends if they can watch us. Just check yourself. I fully understand wanting to watch lesbians, 👍 ...but it is all about being respectful

I meant no disrespect, and was trying to be funny... hence the playing lesbian doctor. Maybe it was a lame attempt, but playing lesbian doctor is one of the few things cooler than playing regular doctor. 😍

And I only put in the bit about watching since it wouldn't make sense for me to be playing lesbian doctor since I'm a boy.

 

[just_in_time]

You know if someone made a comment that I knew was a joke, I wouldn't get all upset about it and attack that person. That is what I don't understand about why you got upset. My lesbian friend takes those comments that guys make with a grain of salt and even would joke along with those people. I guess it depends on the personality of the person involved. I really didn't think that I was that disrespectful but from now on when I see you post in a forum that I am in I will tiptoe around you. Have a good day.

 

[hunterpostbac]

i guess that means you'll have to "tip-toe" around me as well. just because your lesbian friend tollerates your heterosexist jokes doesn't mean everyone will (or should).

 

[bugger]

You know if someone made a comment that I knew was a joke, I wouldn't get all upset about it and attack that person. That is what I don't understand about why you got upset. My lesbian friend takes those comments that guys make with a grain of salt and even would joke along with those people. I guess it depends on the personality of the person involved. I really didn't think that I was that disrespectful but from now on when I see you post in a forum that I am in I will tiptoe around you. Have a good day.

Thanks..you don't need to understand why I got upset. As I said all you have to do is be respectful. If you truly want to understand, you can come hang out with me for a week, and see what it is like.
Sometimes what is funny to one person, may not be that funny to another. It is also about the context of where/when the joke is said. It is kind of difficult to discriminate as to whether or not someone is joking on the internet. Have fun doing the tiptoe around me 😎

 

[W222]

Here is one: You are all just confused anyway? Doing it for attention? What would you do if you got that during an interview? Curious?

 

[hunterpostbac]

i don't plan to bring up my sexuality in my med school interview. but supposing i did, i guess i would tell them the people i've historically been attracted to have always been women. if i find myself attracted to a man at some point, so be it. no confusion there.

 

[bugger]

Here is one: You are all just confused anyway? Doing it for attention? What would you do if you got that during an interview? Curious?

I also don't really plan to bring it up, unless i get one of those obstacle questions on the secondary. Then again, there are other obstacles I have faced as well.
If I got asked that question, I would probably sight all the negative aspects of being queer. Who in the right mind would asked to be beaten up, thrown out of their homes, told that they were mentally ill, scared to hold their partners hand of 10 years b/c a co-worker might see them and they could subsequently lose their job. So, I guess if a person truly values all of the things I just listed,then they are doing it for the attention.
The whole confusion thing can also be answered in the same way. If a person is willing to face all those risks, they are probably not confused about who they want in their life as partners.

 

[W222]

I have a question and I have been wanting to ask someone this for a long time but never had the opportunity, possibly you could enlighten me. Some background, my friend moved in with three "lesbians" during college and they basically told him they were cool with everything because there was no chance anything was going to happen with him. One girl claimed to have not even kissed a man in four years. So, he just went about his business but within six months he had slept with two and hooked up with the other. These occasions seemed to come up more often and he began to question why they claimed to be gay. The girls also went to a predominantly female college and there were many gay people there. BUT on the several occasions I hungout with these girls they flaunted being gay and seemed to make it a point to show off. Ohh, they all ended up with men in the end and it really didnt seem like they were confused/experimenting. It seemed as if they were trying to cause a stir or get back at their parent or something. What was this all about?

 

[bugger]

I have a question and I have been wanting to ask someone this for a long time but never had the opportunity, possibly you could enlighten me. Some background, my friend moved in with three "lesbians" during college and they basically told him they were cool with everything because there was no chance anything was going to happen with him. One girl claimed to have not even kissed a man in four years. So, he just went about his business but within six months he had slept with two and hooked up with the other. These occasions seemed to come up more often and he began to question why they claimed to be gay. The girls also went to a predominantly female college and there were many gay people there. BUT on the several occasions I hungout with these girls they flaunted being gay and seemed to make it a point to show off. Ohh, they all ended up with men in the end and it really didnt seem like they were confused/experimenting. It seemed as if they were trying to cause a stir or get back at their parent or something. What was this all about?

Well, it is hard for us to answer this question because we are not those girls. However, there is a phenomena known as LUGS=Lesbians Until Graduation. How and why some people choose to sleep with men for a while, then women, then men is not a question I can answer. Furthermore, I would not be able to tell who is a LUG, and who isn't. Sexuality is not set in stone, most people are pretty fluid when it comes to it...there are social pressures that keep people from exploring. It is much more acceptable to be lesbian then a gay man, thus you hear of more stories of women exploring their sexuality.

 

[hunterpostbac]

I have a question and I have been wanting to ask someone this for a long time but never had the opportunity, possibly you could enlighten me. Some background, my friend moved in with three "lesbians" during college and they basically told him they were cool with everything because there was no chance anything was going to happen with him. One girl claimed to have not even kissed a man in four years. So, he just went about his business but within six months he had slept with two and hooked up with the other. These occasions seemed to come up more often and he began to question why they claimed to be gay. The girls also went to a predominantly female college and there were many gay people there. BUT on the several occasions I hungout with these girls they flaunted being gay and seemed to make it a point to show off. Ohh, they all ended up with men in the end and it really didnt seem like they were confused/experimenting. It seemed as if they were trying to cause a stir or get back at their parent or something. What was this all about?

i knew a few dozen of these girls as an undergraduate-- in fact, i was frequently accused of "posing" as a lesbian myself (i guess you could say i easily pass as straight) in college. however, i've never really understood why so many women go through a bisexual phase of sorts in their early 20's. maybe because it's nice to have a group to identify with when you're in a new place? a lot of lesbians are very clique-y-- maybe this group dynamic is attractive to someone looking for friends.

 

[aliendroid]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

Yes sahhh! Down heee-ah in da dirty dirty souf da med students likes to round up all does gay med students n' drag dem behind der pickup trucks.

I don't think we have problems with gays down here. The young people out in the country and small towns are more understanding then you would think. The old people out in the country are not very accepting. That’s just the way it is.

I had a friend from Canada that said he thought he was going to be lynched by the KKK when he moved here. People up north act like they are enlightened, however they never fail to show how ignorant they still are.

I'm a straight guy and I understand why some guys find lesbians to be attractive, but I think the attention ****** that play being lesbians to get a guy’s attention are trashy, idiotic, and lame. I doubt you’ll find any of them here, but you never know.

 

[Medinsane]

I have a movie recommendation! If you have the chance go watch "saving face"!! The main character is a chinese lesbian who's a surgeon. It's funny, it's sad, it's romantic, it's at times humbly realistic (the mom reminds me of my mom 😳 ). It's in theatres right now but in limited release.

www.sonyclassics.com/savingface/

 

[newyorkcougar]

At one of my interviews they totally gave me a hard time about being gay. Ironically, that school was my first acceptance. I am not very obvious, but I had taken some coursework that most straight guys would probably not have taken. They made a list of my obviously queer coursework and asked me what they were supposed to think about me based on these classes. I think they were just trying to see how comfortable I am with myself...who knows. But it was one of the most angering experiences of my life. Needless to say I turned them down. Hopefully this won't happen to y'all at your interviews!

 

[newyorkcougar]

At one of my interviews they totally gave me a hard time about being gay. Ironically, that school was my first acceptance. I am not very obvious, but I had taken some coursework that most straight guys would probably not have taken. They made a list of my obviously queer coursework and asked me what they were supposed to think about me based on these classes. I think they were just trying to see how comfortable I am with myself...who knows. But it was one of the most angering experiences of my life. Needless to say I turned them down. Hopefully this won't happen to y'all at your interviews!

 

[Psycho Doctor]

At one of my interviews they totally gave me a hard time about being gay. Ironically, that school was my first acceptance. I am not very obvious, but I had taken some coursework that most straight guys would probably not have taken. They made a list of my obviously queer coursework and asked me what they were supposed to think about me based on these classes. I think they were just trying to see how comfortable I am with myself...who knows. But it was one of the most angering experiences of my life. Needless to say I turned them down. Hopefully this won't happen to y'all at your interviews!

that's pretty pathetic.

just curious what college has a cougar as a mascot? or was that your hs mascot?

 

[lorelei]

At one of my interviews they totally gave me a hard time about being gay. Ironically, that school was my first acceptance. I am not very obvious, but I had taken some coursework that most straight guys would probably not have taken. They made a list of my obviously queer coursework and asked me what they were supposed to think about me based on these classes. I think they were just trying to see how comfortable I am with myself...who knows. But it was one of the most angering experiences of my life. Needless to say I turned them down. Hopefully this won't happen to y'all at your interviews!

Eek, that would have been awful. Did you tell them that's why you turned them down? You should.

 

[drgreghouse]

Don't let bigotry stop you from doing what you want to do!

 

[Dr.Akula]

i would have thought most lesbians would opt for a career in marine biology.

 

[Mateodaspy]

As far as the prevalence of lesbians in medical schools, I'd say it's quite a bit lower than that of gay men. At most of the med school interview/revisits I went to this year, I stayed with other gay guys and was always curious about where all of the lesbians were. At most of the top schools, there were often none to maybe one lesbian (there is one very outspoken and incredibly sweet MS-1 lesbian at Harvard). Needless to say, I was a little disappointed to see the lack of representation of lesbians in medical school -- any ideas on why this might be so? Are lesbians just not applying in as high of numbers as gay men? Or perhaps the more outspoken, feminist lesbians are too intimidating for the greying, 60+, conservative white men that head admissions committees at many of the top medical schools?

 

[Dr.Akula]

in medical school do you learn why gay people are gay, or are just told that they are "different"?

 

[ChickAmok]

this thread strikes me as funny because i think i know who you are hunterpostbac--did you go to school in new haven? and i know the rockstar 1st year lesbian at harvard (she's the only 'bian she knows at hms and is indeed quite wonderful). i'm headed to med school in august and i just met a soon-to-be lesbian classmate.

yes, it's a small community, but it does exist!

and who can forget dr. weaver on ER (i don't know if we should be proud of that one)...

 

[Dr.Akula]

is she soon to become a lesbian, or soon to become your classmate who just happens to be a lesbian?

 

[Hakashi]

*Message removed by Phil Anthropist*

 

[Dr.Akula]

**Message removed by Phil Anthropist**

 

[45408]

Just stay the f*ck out of the south...they have hung people for less.

hey, at least you're not perpetuating stereotypes 🙄