Paranoid about talking about my LGBT identity in secondaries

[USvWindsor]

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Please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean when you say "a lot of medical providers simply do not know how to speak to LGBT patients"? I am not part of the LGBT community and if I was speaking with an LGBT patient about their sexual health (or any health) I would assume it was ok to just speak to them in the same way I would speak to any patient, with respect and openness to their individual self. Are you talking about physicians that might be uncomfortable or homophobic? I'm genuinely curious. Tell me what I need to know so I can serve my future LGBT patients in the best way I can.

Inclusive language, not assuming everyone is heterosexual, not being weird or judgmental if someone is LGBTQ, some surveys have shown that patients are more likely to feel comfortable/not have to lie to their PCP if there's an LGBT sticker on the office window

 

[Goro]

Indeed! Some states actually require this of their med schools.

Here's a small example of what you learn:

If you ask some male Hispanic patients if they gay, they'll say no.

If you ask the same patients if they have sex with other mes, they'll say yes.

If these particular cultures, "gay" means being the receptive of the sexal activity.

Good communications skills are now a required competency of medical students.

I think a class in medical school on sensitivity in addressing the unique healthcare issues of LGBT patients would be an excellent way to begin remediating this issue. I Many medical schools have classes, seminars, speakers, etc. that discuss health disparity based on race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. It's not that hard to add LGBT issues into this curriculum, and some schools already do.

 

[Jabawocky]

Hello all,

I have written many of my secondaries and I am getting ready to submit however I am getting paranoid and insecure about discussing my identity as a gay male in the diversity statements of my secondaries.

Although I don't have much volunteer experiences with LGBT causes (I didn't mention it in my personal statement because I didn't think it was relevant to the themes I wanted to discuss), my identity has played a tremendous role in my own development and my understanding of health disparities that affect minority communities.

I am just insecure about talking about this in my secondaries due to fear of adcoms questioning my sincerity or being dismissive of my background. I don't even know if this personal insecurity is a legitimate concern or if it's just my internalized homophobia telling me to shut up and write something more PC.

PS: Yes, I know to avoid discussing this at LUCOM, Loma Linda, St. Louis, Creighton, and Western Michigan (?).

Well, if you feel it truly adds to you diversity then put it. Don't be paranoid about including it but do make sure you word it constructively. By that, I mean don't entirely base it off your orientation because, although that may make you unique, relying on that alone is a bad idea IMO and could put the idea in peoples heads that, "Woohoo, he's homosexual, is that all he can bring?"

Having said that, if you REALLY do believe that your sexual orientation has given you insight into the healthcare of LGBT peoples then do include it. You say you haven't done much volunteering in that community so I would have to ask HOW being gay has educated you on the subject. Have you done tons of research, gone to lectures, etc?

So I would say put it in but keep it succinct and make your point quickly as to how it benefits the medical community to have your perspective in it.

 

[TUVIX]

Unfortunately the ones who are actually doctors are worse :yikes:

Also, just a sidenote for the peanut gallery - don't ever let anyone tell you a question is too personal to ask a patient. There is no such thing. Patients have concerns about sexual health, they have histories of abuse they would like to talk about, they have weird moles on their butts they want you to look at - but they are waiting for you to give them the opportunity to share. The Dr has to take the lead and ask questions in a non judgemental way.

What you just described is a large part of why I am pursuing this career. I would like to be the person that someone confides in about their butt mole, as ridiculous as that may sound. I plan to be as open with my patients as they are comfortable with.

 

[TUVIX]

Indeed! Some states actually require this of their med schools.

Here's a small example of what you learn:

If you ask some male Hispanic patients if they gay, they'll say no.

If you ask the same patients if they have sex with other mes, they'll say yes.

If these particular cultures, "gay" means being the receptive of the sexal activity.

Good communications skills are now a required competency of medical students.

TIL

 

[breezy16]

Well, if you feel it truly adds to you diversity then put it. Don't be paranoid about including it but do make sure you word it constructively. By that, I mean don't entirely base it off your orientation because, although that may make you unique, relying on that alone is a bad idea IMO and could put the idea in peoples heads that, "Woohoo, he's homosexual, is that all he can bring?"

Having said that, if you REALLY do believe that your sexual orientation has given you insight into the healthcare of LGBT peoples then do include it. You say you haven't done much volunteering in that community so I would have to ask HOW being gay has educated you on the subject. Have you done tons of research, gone to lectures, etc?

So I would say put it in but keep it succinct and make your point quickly as to how it benefits the medical community to have your perspective in it.

I think that this isn't true necessarily. The experience of being marginalized, especially if you have a partner and experience it together, is so much more educating than volunteering in a few clubs (which many believe this is what makes them more competitive, straight or lgbtq)

Life experience and learning from those experiences trumps volunteer service, hands down. You can say that you've noticed issues all you want but until you're strictly placed in the situation, I don't know if you can say you've truly learned or understand the context of the situation.

 

[Jabawocky]

Life experience and learning from those experiences trumps volunteer service, hands down. You can say that you've noticed issues all you want but until you're strictly placed in the situation, I don't know if you can say you've truly learned or understand the context of the situation.

Well that is what I was trying to get at. I don't know if he has been marginalized. If he has a partner and has been, then that is one thing. But I simply don't know. Having said that, would that experience even technically endow him with knowledge of the healthcare issues that the LGBT community faces? Not necessarily in my opinion.

 

[breezy16]

Well that is what I was trying to get at. I don't know if he has been marginalized. If he has a partner and has been, then that is one thing. But I simply don't know. Having said that, would that experience even technically endow him with knowledge of the healthcare issues that the LGBT community faces? Not necessarily in my opinion.

Very true point! I'd say he'd be cognizant of potential discriminations and bias, not to mention assumptions made by staff, which leads to uncomfortable feelings / prejudgement. Depending on the facility, you also may see prejudgement on standardized forms (Does your wife...)
I know I've done more research on these subjects for my own personal knowledge to further educate myself on the LGBT community healthcare issues. Many volunteer groups are more of a social collation here, not so much outreach / education; not to mention working in a very red, religious state can lead to implications I do not want to risk for my family (occupation, housing, social, etc).

I suspect this is similar for many other individuals.

 

[Jabawocky]

Exactly. So this is why I recommended he only put it if he felt he had direct and personal experience that would make him a better doctor relating to him being in the LGBT community. If he hadn't though, and he put that as part of his diversity essay with nothing supporting it, then I would be worried someone may see that as using a current social topic to garner attention.


EDIT: Not saying I have any reason to think he would. I just wouldn't want that image to be possible when reading his statement.

 

[Goro]

So much ignorance, so little time.

When a physician treats his patient, he or she does not care one thing about his or her sexual orientation. I understand what you are trying to imply though, basically the same case as a URM. As I said before, no physician discriminates against people on the basis of sexual orientation. Therefore, there is no need for LGBT patients to be afraid of going to emergency services or any other service offered.

 

[touchpause13]

So much ignorance, so little time.

For real though, I hope even through those comments we've been able to provide some useful information

 

[TUVIX]

For real though, I hope even through those comments we've been able to provide some useful information

You have. And you even like Queen! I like you let's be friends.

 

[tantacles]

I have put in my two cents on this issue perhaps more than I have ever needed to, and here I go again. Your sexual orientation or gender identity, if unique, may belong on your application. If you're someone who happens to be LGBT, hasn't thought much about it, and you just sort of go about your life without it affecting you, then don't bother.

Most LGBT people, though, don't have that experience. Personally, I was raised in a very liberal environment with parents who gave little care to my sexual orientation, and I still experience discrimination. In fact, even in medical school I've had some issues with people who know very little about gay people but somehow feel very comfortable maligning us for our "lifestyle choices" and using some of the most hurtful words I know of in the English language with the effect of making me and many of my colleagues even more painfully aware of the fact that in many places, even some places in the United States, LGBT people are killed routinely for a piece of themselves they can not change. And even more frequently, they wish so hard not to be who they are that they take their own lives.

So if you don't feel like putting this piece of information on your application because it doesn't feel genuine, that's all right. But I can almost guarantee that if you dig just a little, you'll find a very good reason that your perspective will be valuable to your future colleagues, particularly when they're counseling an LGBT patient with depression who is contemplating suicide, an LGBT person with substance abuse disorder, or an LGBT person with a chronic medical condition who has literally no support because their family disowned them.

You shouldn't have to dig too deep.

 

[timsk]

I appreciate some of the saner voices on here. These app questions are about diversity, unique lived experienced and insights. I live in one of the most liberal cities and yet it took me a very long time to be comfortable holding my partner's hand in public. Any time i travel i have to consider if it's appropriate or safe to interact w my partner in ways that hetero couples interact w each other. Growing up, before i was out, i constantly monitored how i was behaving, what i was saying, what my voice sounded like, how i held my body, all in hopes of hiding my sexuality. When im meeting new people and the conversation turns to relationships or living situations, i always assess if i should keep my answers gender neutral or indicate that my partner is another man. These are just some of the experiences of identifying as lgbt. Im not raising them to complain or get sympathy but to demonstrate that your identity certainly impacts your life. I find it rather concerning that many people on this thread seem to think that reporting your minority status (whether sexual, racial, economic, religious) on the diversity prompt is only relevant if youve done some sigificant volunteer work with your community. That just goes to show how unaware we all are (myself included) of the different struggles different communitues encounter in their day to day lives. That, in my opinion, is exactly why schools put an emphasis on recruiting diverse classes, so we can learn from each other's lived experiences, regardless of our volunteer positions.

 

[wagonwheel23]

For some of the "greatest challenge" essays I wrote about overcoming my internalized homophobia.

In regards to diversity questions, I talk about my homosexuality in the context of my volunteer work with LGBT groups and what I've learned from that as well as my personal experiences in healthcare/life.

 

[Henry101]

Thank you everyone for your comments, suggestions, and support.
Like I said, I really didn't think this was going to be a thread with so much wisdom and viewpoints.
If anyone cares, I did end up writing about this particular identity of mine as my diversity statement for most schools and talking about recently starting volunteer work at an AIDS center, teaching patrons about pre-exposure prophylaxis, and how that has helped me talk about these issues openly.
Despite going to school in a very urban city, I was still in the closet for most of my college experience and didn't really participate in LGBT activities for a variety of reasons. It's very unfortunate because my school is very open to queer students and I am sure I would have many more really cool and interesting friends.
I just think that we have a lot to learn from each others perspectives and experiences, things that we can't get from a textbook or a powerpoint slide, and that is why I appreciate these schools asking these questions.