should I disclose that I'm transgender on my app? nervous :(

[premedbarista]

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I'm trying to decide if I want to mention that I'm trans (or even just select the trans option for gender identity) on my application and I could really use some help. I'm legally male and identify as male, so I could just not pick the trans option bc it's none of their business if I didn't want to disclose it. With all of the anti trans policies the federal govt is pushing universities to adopt, I'm really nervous that being trans will put me at a disadvantage. I don't think adcoms would be prejudiced themselves against me, it's more that they might just have to do what they're told by the government and not want to admit me bc I present some logistical challenges (like if the govt says I can't use the correct bathroom or whatever).

However, being trans has been a big part of why I want to pursue medicine, bc medically transitioning made my life so much better and I want to help other people achieve that peace/happiness/healthiness too, so I feel weird about leaving it out of my app. I already can't mention the other big reason (mental health recovery related) so I feel like I'd just be making stuff up to fill the "why do you want to be a doctor" essay space after leaving out two very important personal journeys like that.

any advice? it would be super helpful if any adcom members could weigh in on what the political climate around this sort of thing is right now for you all.
thanks!

 

[Goro]

I'm reminded of the line from Exodus 3:14:

"And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am."

Now, why am I telling you this? Well, you are who you are, so go for it!

Just don't apply to Loma Linda or LUCOM.

 

[LunaOri]

We see lots of trans applicants, and for some schools LGBTQ+ is a target demographic for recruiting. It won’t be a negative for most schools.

 

[polymerization]

Like Harvey Milk said all those years ago, we must come out. If we allow the chilling effect of the administration to push us back into the closet, they win. Not because, perhaps, you pass and have the option of flying under the radar, thus unaffected from the discrimination of the administration; but rather, because in obfuscating the truth of who you are you further marginalize the rest of the community that cannot hide who they are as readily.

It's about the principle. You didn't ask to be trans, just like I didn't ask to be gay. But, benefitting from the societal progress that LGBTQ+ folks created for us (not that long ago), we do have the responsibility to help perpetuate and even expand awareness and acceptance for posterity.

Think about what it was like growing up. Are you really at a place in your life where you want to hide again? Where you tiptoe in your own shoes, living in fear of being clocked with every interaction and anticipating the unspoken punishment of occupying a space where being yourself isn't OK?

I've thought a lot about it over the course of the last year; whether I wanted to talk about it or not. I ultimately chose to say it with pride.

 

[bbsq]

i had a friend who hired a private consultant to help with the admissions process. They just told them to avoid mentioning anything about diversity etc in their app this yr given the political climate. My friend said f- that, "ill be true to who i am".

Personally i dont think the med schools are on governments radar for this stuff right now. But regardless, we cant give in and go back.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Personally i dont think the med schools are on governments radar for this stuff right now. But regardless, we cant give in and go back.

On the contrary, they are. See all the press about freezing research grants and the shuttering of DEI offices at various medical schools like UMich. They've been on the radar at many red states though not enabled to the extent we will expect thanks to the feds. LCME just pulled back on "enforcing" their diversity standard.

We have our Treating Trans Patients resource. We don't make it publicly open for cybersecurity reasons now, so if you want to join, PM me with a Google classroom-compliant email.

Also reach out to the Medical Student Pride Alliance.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I used to tell people not to worry about stuff like this. I'm on an adcom at a super conservative med school and nobody seemed to care, plenty of my classmates are in the LGBTQ+ community.

However, in light of recent events, and some blatant homophobia/transphobia I've seen from students and attendings, I might not would mention it. I think it would go over well at Harvard and poorly at your hilbilly state MD. I wish humans didn't suck so much. Good luck whatever you decide.

Also, all the talk about speaking truth to power sounds nice- however, if you want to help change this country for the better, you'll have more power to do that as a physician than a (for example) barista. I have had to lie about duty hours and had some awful experiences with the leadership of my medical school. Nobody from my school has any idea about this because as a medical student, I'm powerless. When I'm an attending I'll be really good to my students, but for now, I'm putting my head down and eating crap to get a residency. Just food for thought.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I also add this resource from AMSA.

Gender & Sexuality - AMSA

www.amsa.org

Transgender Health - AMSA

www.amsa.org

 

[polymerization]

Also, all the talk about speaking truth to power sounds nice- however, if you want to help change this country for the better, you'll have more power to do that as a physician [...] I'm powerless. When I'm an attending I'll be really good to my students, but for now, I'm putting my head down and eating crap to get a residency.

That's a fair rebuttal that deserves a serious response.

If I'm understanding correctly, your course of action runs on a few assumptions: (1) that remaining silent/invisible guarantees safety; (2) that a non-response is not as performative as responding; and (3) that enduring will necessarily lead to an ascent to power.

Addressing the first point, I would hope you would agree with the observation that much of what is being targeted by mainstream politics is, for all intents and purposes, wildly arbitrary.

As the Overton window of what is considered "normal" to this administration narrows to form their own image, it will become impossible to sustain this strategy. I think the true consequence, more existentially, is that when you are inevitably targeted for being unable to perform normativity, you essentially guarantee that you will be alone. These environments don't just punish the people who resist, they also demand that you affirm them; and eventually, are complicit to contributing to marginalization. Clear discrimination becomes "the way things are."

That's why, addressing (2), not responding is performing in this situation. It's reinforcing the idea that discrimination is "the way things are" and not deserving of recognition. When we talk about inequality, we take for granted that inequality is made visible, named, and framed in that way. In not responding, you're contributing to the chilling effect I'm talking about, which is all part of the administration's plan: to silence dissent, by force if necessary, to later claim that—see, there was never any real inequality at all—nobody is complaining anymore, so progressive attempts to further marginalize those communities will be even more normatively tolerated.

But let's say you make it out. You graduate from a fantastic residency program, and you're an attending. Addressing point (3), there are no guarantees that the future as a site of social progress will still exist as a concept in four years. There are no guarantees that you'll be able to maintain the moral clarity and institutional wherewithal to be able to challenge the structures you're choosing not to resist now.

Surviving doesn't necessarily liberate, Foucault teaches, it disciplines.

By the time you're an attending, or even later still as an administrator with any kind of institutional power—it's logical to assume you've eaten enough crap to make radical action more—not less—difficult.

 

[Hollow Knight]

That's a fair rebuttal that deserves a serious response.

If I'm understanding correctly, your course of action runs on a few assumptions: (1) that remaining silent/invisible guarantees safety; (2) that a non-response is not as performative as responding; and (3) that enduring will necessarily lead to an ascent to power.

Addressing the first point, I would hope you would agree with the observation that much of what is being targeted by mainstream politics is, for all intents and purposes, wildly arbitrary.

As the Overton window of what is considered "normal" to this administration narrows to form their own image, it will become impossible to sustain this strategy. I think the true consequence, more existentially, is that when you are inevitably targeted for being unable to perform normativity, you essentially guarantee that you will be alone. These environments don't just punish the people who resist, they also demand that you affirm them; and eventually, are complicit to contributing to marginalization. Clear discrimination becomes "the way things are."

That's why, addressing (2), not responding is performing in this situation. It's reinforcing the idea that discrimination is "the way things are" and not deserving of recognition. When we talk about inequality, we take for granted that inequality is made visible, named, and framed in that way. In not responding, you're contributing to the chilling effect I'm talking about, which is all part of the administration's plan: to silence dissent, by force if necessary, to later claim that—see, there was never any real inequality at all—nobody is complaining anymore, so progressive attempts to further marginalize those communities will be even more normatively tolerated.

But let's say you make it out. You graduate from a fantastic residency program, and you're an attending. Addressing point (3), there are no guarantees that the future as a site of social progress will still exist as a concept in four years. There are no guarantees that you'll be able to maintain the moral clarity and institutional wherewithal to be able to challenge the structures you're choosing not to resist now.

Surviving doesn't necessarily liberate, Foucault teaches, it disciplines.

By the time you're an attending, or even later still as an administrator with any kind of institutional power—it's logical to assume you've eaten enough crap to make radical action more—not less—difficult.

This is a great essay (sincerely) but when I talk about keeping my head down I'm referring to not reporting my administrators to ACGME or LCME. For example. Like, are you a med student? Attending? Next time an attending asks you to stay awake in the hospital for 36 hours, and you just say "No," let me know how that goes for you. It's just not worth picking a fight to me, I'd rather have a job. Power to you though, seriously (I'm not being sarcastic I mean it).

I don't feel like I have to hide my views on taking care of LGBTQ+ patients at my medical school. I just also can't promise OP that someone on my adcom won't discriminate against them because of it. I'd like to think they wouldn't but I just can't say for sure.

At the end of the day premedbarista, a school that doesn't like the fact that you're trans is probably not a school you want to attend anyway.

 

[bbsq]

Im pretty sure that a school that wouldnt have cared about ones gender identity or sexuality last yr still isnt going to care now. They just wont list statistics about their student body going forward, just like undergrad colleges are doing. And i doubt that the gov is going to access AMCAS essays and scrub for diversity (at least for now). Alternatively, those schools that have never sought out diversity among their students will continue to not look positively on you. One could withhold such personal info in the hopes of improving your chances of attending one of the less tolerant schools, but i agree with the above that it can be a very difficult existence in the already stressful and challenging environment that is med school.

Finally, medical schools that are losing funding are being punished as part of the larger university, not because of something they did in the medical world. The admin didnt take away Columbias med funding per se, it just decided to lop off all fed money to the entire university because of its handling of the Gaza/Isreal protests. The medical school was collateral damage.

 

[polymerization]

This is a great essay (sincerely) but when I talk about keeping my head down I'm referring to not reporting my administrators to ACGME or LCME.

Well, yes. Actually, if you're at all interested in this topic, Dr. Sara Ahmed out of Cambridge has a book called Complaint! that goes into the ways in which marginalized individuals who attempt to formalize their grievances around abuses of power paradoxically have more power lorded over them throughout the complaint process. She identifies how DEI/belonging departments actually collude with the broader administration to create processes that are essentially unbearable and disempowering, either by making the process impossible to perform technically; or they draw it out over so many months/years that the issue essentially becomes moot. A newer technique is calling any grievance inherently "political" and dismissing it on that basis.

In general, I agree with your stance; although, I was admittedly approaching the question from the position of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. If the attending is just an equal opportunity hater who uniformly overworks their medical students/residents, I would probably still have a lot of thoughts about it, but that was what I was signing up for. I don't have a problem with hard work, I have a problem with being treated differently from others based on who I am or what/where I came from.

Now, if you're telling me I'm hearing the f-slur being thrown around, someone puts their hands on me, or jokes are being made at my expense, I will go full banshee and die on that hill. Indeed, I've died on it before. A tenured professor was terminated for cause in their sixties as a result of my report. It was a process that took many years to resolve; and one that was profoundly taxing emotionally... and I genuinely did believe my career would be over... but in the end, it taught me so much. There I was, a 17-year-old former ESL kid taking on a founding dean of a medical school, being chided and derided by people twice and thrice my age...and won anyway. You do have power in raising your voice and collecting evidence.

If there's anything I can share with the class, it's that sometimes, just existing puts a target on your back. Insist on being treated fairly. Learn to navigate institutions and understand the genre expectations of bureaucratic writing. Expect the worst; hope for the best. We wouldn't have lawyers if we thought we lived in a perfectly fair and reasonable society. Never ever tolerate discrimination: not out of a sense of self-importance, but out of a sense of integrity—for yourself, and for the people who come after you. This likely isn't a situation that is at all specific to medical school, but certainly happens within its corridors.

 

[premedbarista]

I used to tell people not to worry about stuff like this. I'm on an adcom at a super conservative med school and nobody seemed to care, plenty of my classmates are in the LGBTQ+ community.

However, in light of recent events, and some blatant homophobia/transphobia I've seen from students and attendings, I might not would mention it. I think it would go over well at Harvard and poorly at your hilbilly state MD. I wish humans didn't suck so much. Good luck whatever you decide.

Also, all the talk about speaking truth to power sounds nice- however, if you want to help change this country for the better, you'll have more power to do that as a physician than a (for example) barista. I have had to lie about duty hours and had some awful experiences with the leadership of my medical school. Nobody from my school has any idea about this because as a medical student, I'm powerless. When I'm an attending I'll be really good to my students, but for now, I'm putting my head down and eating crap to get a residency. Just food for thought.

Do you think it's fine then if I'm only applying to schools that are more liberal? my stats are relatively good so i've limited my list to states/schools that seem trans-friendly. i just wrote my personal statement and i realized it would feel really incomplete if I didn't include it as a "why doctor" reason bc i dont have a ton of other reasons that i can write about meaningfully. thanks for ur help 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Do you think it's fine then if I'm only applying to schools that are more liberal? my stats are relatively good so i've limited my list to states/schools that seem trans-friendly. i just wrote my personal statement and i realized it would feel really incomplete if I didn't include it as a "why doctor" reason bc i dont have a ton of other reasons that i can write about meaningfully. thanks for ur help 🙂

I think you should find out how supportive each school's environment will be (academic, social, clinical). A school that signals "social justice" can still have a bad support system, and you never know with clinical rotations. You can see what resources we have in our LGBTQ+ subforum (and if there's anything that needs to be revised, please tell us (not just the OP but others on this thread). You can be surprised how one bad apple can make your experience challenging, especially if that person has tenure. I suspect any similar situations that @polymerization notes with tenured professors will be more difficult to prosecute now. And anyone can find a way to push you out of medical school if you cross them too much, despite what safeguards are said to be in place.

We are watching many "pro-diversity" universities dialing back their overt support for LGBTQ+ and inclusion infrastructure. Don't bank on any "liberal" labels. Ask hard questions to the admissions staff; collectively you all can help the admissions professionals document exactly how much these changes will affect recruitment messaging from the leaders of the schools and universities.

Connect with GLMA and SNMA. Again the AMSA resources I listed. In the end, you need to be authentic, and all of us in admissions will support those who are. More importantly, gender non-conforming individuals will still need compassionate physicians and healthcare providers. We still need physicians like you.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Do you think it's fine then if I'm only applying to schools that are more liberal? my stats are relatively good so i've limited my list to states/schools that seem trans-friendly. i just wrote my personal statement and i realized it would feel really incomplete if I didn't include it as a "why doctor" reason bc i dont have a ton of other reasons that i can write about meaningfully. thanks for ur help 🙂

You’re getting alot of perspectives in this thread from people who are well-meaning. The bottom line is nobody can tell you what will happen.

To use a situation in my own life- I recently started getting treated for MDD. Because of that, I’m not applying to residency in certain states I was going to because I don’t want those medical boards coming after me. I thought about just applying anyway and keeping it under wraps, but I decided I’d rather just apply to mental-health friendly states and not have to lie. I shouldn’t have to worry about stuff like that but it is what it is.

I can’t tell you what will happen. This situation sucks. You’re just gonna have to take all of our counsel and do your best. I think you’re gonna absolutely be fine but there is no right answer here unfortunately