Studies show that individuals who identify as LGBTQ report worse health care experiences and poorer health outcomes. But in following the lead of the AAMC, medical schools are working to remedy these health inequities by incorporating more LGBTQ-focused initiatives into their curriculums.
Below, we highlight a few medical schools with notable LGBTQ-focused programs.
Below, we highlight a few medical schools with notable LGBTQ-focused programs.
- The University of Louisville School of Medicine serves as the nation’s pilot site for the eQuality medical curriculum, which trains future physicians on the health care concerns and issues encountered by individuals identifying as LGBT, gender nonconforming, or those who are born with differences of sex development.
- The Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School have each received AMA Foundation National LGBTQ+ Fellowship Program grants. The fellowship program is designed “to provide enhanced physician training, education, and cultural sensitivity while bringing awareness of the health care and institutional barriers faced by LGBTQ+ patients and intersecting communities.”
- Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School offers a scholarly concentration in LGBTQ Healthcare and Advocacy. The concentration prepares medical students to serve gender and sexual minority populations as clinicians, with an understanding of and sensitivity to, the unique social, cultural, and political context of the health issues faced by these communities.
- The Stanford University School of Medicine offers the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Medical Education Research Group. This group aims to contribute to the field of LGBT health through innovative research, influencing health and educational policies, and advocating for LGBT patients and providers.
- The University of Washington School of Medicine Health Pathways Program provides educational opportunities and experiences to medical students, which will prepare them to provide culturally responsive care for the LGBTQ population.
- Inquire about how LGBTQ+ topics are integrated into the required coursework. "Offering it as a requirement really does put the teeth behind it in the curriculum, saying this is something for all students," Dr. Steven Rougas, Director of the Doctoring Program at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School, said.
- Look for LGBTQ+ clinics and/or institutes for study and research. "Looking for centers is how I would go about doing it," Dane Whicker, Clinical Psychologist and Director of Gender and Sexual Diversity initiatives in the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Duke University School of Medicine, said. He also noted that a particularly good sign is a center that conducts research and provides comprehensive treatment programs.
- Ask about how LGBTQ+ courses are developed and updated. "One key question is how the institution plans for change," Dr. John A. Davis, the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine's Associate Dean for Curriculum, wrote to the U.S. News in an email. "Areas particularly involving gender identity and expression and sexuality are rapidly changing, and curriculum must keep up with that. How an institution plans for that type of rapid change says a lot,” he wrote.
