Should we avoid outing ourselves in the interview or application?

[tantacles]

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True— it’s our job to be visible. But there’s a right time and place. To me the med school application is only a means to an end. And—in my opinion only—it’s only the end that counts in this situation. (Residency, however, is a different situation, due to the close working relationships involved)

I think “do what’s right for you” sums it up pretty well.

 

[inoffensivepersona]

I’ve been to 8 interviews so far and whenever I’ve mentioned that I was LGBT, I received a rather negative reaction from my interviewer. Then again, I’m a person of color and an illegal immigrant, so maybe that contributed to their yuck factor at meeting someone like me.

Mind you these were California schools and not Loma Linda.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

I’ve been to 8 interviews so far and whenever I’ve mentioned that I was LGBT, I received a rather negative reaction from my interviewer.

Mind you these were California schools and not Loma Linda.

That's good to know, thank you for sharing. Good luck this cycle although with 8 interviews you surely don't need it!

 

[i-doctor]

I’ve been to 8 interviews so far and whenever I’ve mentioned that I was LGBT, I received a rather negative reaction from my interviewer. Then again, I’m a person of color and an illegal immigrant, so maybe that contributed to their yuck factor at meeting someone like me.

Mind you these were California schools and not Loma Linda.

I see from your posts that you’ve gotten some A’s. We’re any of these A’s from the schools where you had a “yuck factor” interview? Maybe the interview didn’t actually hurt you even with the negative reaction.

 

[inoffensivepersona]

I see from your posts that you’ve gotten some A’s. We’re any of these A’s from the schools where you had a “yuck factor” interview? Maybe the interview didn’t actually hurt you even with the negative reaction.

I’ve received some As and there was a yuck factor at one school. I expect that maybe no one in that committee wanted to talk about my identity because it includes some protected classes. But it did take a while after my interview to get that A and many people from my interview date got in way before I did. I was likely a lower priority for them, which is why I’m probably getting pretty poor financial aid from them soon. I also had one interview (Stanford) where an interviewer commented on my weight and how it called into question how effective I would be as a doctor. I was, of course, subsequently waitlisted.

 

[i-doctor]

Hmm. I always wondered whether schools use poor financial aid packages as a back- door way to weed out students that they aren’t enthusiastic about. This way they can say they accepted a certain percentage of minorities or whatever, but, hey, they chose to go elsewhere.
I would like to believe that financial aid decisions are completely separated from the initial admission decisions. But not sure.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

...I do understand that some programs want diversity and being LGBTQ may be an advantage. So use it. Come out to some programs when the opportunity arises (“reach” programs, those in liberal areas, etc), and not to others. After all, gamesmanship is the name of the game to get into medical school—with sometimes useless volunteering, shadowing, b.s. research, etc—so I see no reason not to use coming out as a calculated “surgical” strategy to employ only at select programs at the right time and place. Play to WIN.

This is why it is often valuable to have service to the LGBTQ community on your application if you are going to present yourself this way. Admissions committee members are neither blind nor stupid.

 

[i-doctor]

This is why it is often valuable to have service to the LGBTQ community on your application if you are going to present yourself this way. Admissions committee members are neither blind nor stupid.

True if presenting yourself this way! I agree completely. But in some applications maybe don’t list your service to LGBTQ community or disclose in interview. Match you the person to the application for the school.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

True. (But in some applications maybe don’t list your service to LGBTQ community or disclose in interview.). Match you the person to the application.

Having service to the LGBTQ community is unlikely to hurt you when applying to medical school, unless it's a place like Loma Linda or Liberty. Most medical schools will consider it a plus, or neutral at the very worst. If you have that service, I'd say it's a good idea to have it on your application. Whether you want to disclose that you are yourself a member of the LGBT community on your primary, secondary, or in interview is an entirely different thing. People can have reasons for accumulating hundreds of hours of service to a community other than being a member of that community.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

A little updating for current applicants. Most of the primary applications allow or will allow for disclosure of pronoun preferences and gender self-identification in the near future (at least allowing for a non-binary selection). I would expect secondary applications to follow suit. In a way, these opportunities to be more inclusive are meant to encourage you to disclose as a statement that the schools in general welcome more inclusion. With virtual interviews I'm hopeful that pronoun preference inclusion will also be encouraged, just as I hope they would in an in-person interview (I did try for years to get people to include their pronouns on name tags). So if anything, it is easier to leave breadcrumbs if you are gender non-conforming, and we hope it encourages you if you already have made that decision. I also hope eventually it will lead to better data collection on self-disclosed LGBTQ+ applicants and matriculants.

I have advised people from all different backgrounds that the application process should not be seen as a confessional. You do need to be your confident self when you introduce yourself to others along the way. You need to find a supportive community and mentors wherever you go, preferably even before you start the application process.

 

[Dr Meow]

Unless you're in a situation where it's advantageous to talk about it, I wouldn't.
Why don't people talk about being "straight" in an interview? There's no advantage to doing it.

Therefore, it should be talked about if you sense your interviewer would see your involvement in LGBT would help you more than they would otherwise see a straight person bringing up that they're straight. I think the most advantageous part is if you were involved in the community and you contributed something. Even better if it's medical related and you spent years on it.

There's a lot of old people in med school admissions (just by nature of the game, taking so so many years to get to that stage). Your demographics may not be in your favor.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If one is still following this conversation, a few resources noted in the Medical Student Pride Alliance from their most recent virtual conference: session recording is https://www.accelevents.com/e/2022-mspa-conference/portal/schedule/249738 (you may need to register to access, limited time to access unless it is later posted publicly elsewhere).

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/education/md/documents/Rainbow-Book.pdf is a resource guide written by one of the panelists (current med student).