Their Feet Are Doing The Walking

They are voting with their feet and going to med schools where they can get a complete education.

LGBTQ Health Issues: How to Choose a Medical School at the Forefront

Med schools that provide exceptional training in LGBTQ health typically include information about it in required courses.

US News and World Report

By Ilana Kowarski

November 8, 2022

An increasing number of U.S. medical schools offer courses that focus on the art and science of providing compassionate and informed health care for people who identify as LGBTQ.

A survey of New England M.D. students in 2018 revealed that nearly 77% of respondents rated themselves as not competent or somewhat not competent at providing medical care for gender and sexual minorities. At seven of the 10 schools represented in the survey, a majority of students said coverage of the medical concerns of sexual and gender minorities in their M.D. curriculum and preparation to serve those patients were inadequate.

This study is one of many that reveal a knowledge gap among U.S. medical students and professors who want to adopt best practices with LGBTQ patients but aren't sure how. In response, the Association of American Medical Colleges offers an array of educational resources on the topic.

Increasingly, medical educators across the U.S. are working to ensure that future doctors are able to address the medical needs of patients who identify as LGBTQ. Some research indicates a correlation between victimization through homophobic bullying and diagnosis with serious disorders among these individuals, who have a higher risk of contracting and dying from certain illnesses than the general population.

I have been in the last six months going to test to determine why I am short of breath* all my interactions have been positive. One technician, a male tech, in his report bounces back and forth between pronouns and it was almost comical you get the impression that he was testing two people.

"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 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."

UCSF seeks input from many LGBTQ advocates and scholars when crafting its LGBTQ curriculum, Davis says.

"We have a fantastic group of students, staff, faculty, and community partners helping us to think about not just what we teach, but how we’re teaching it."

Meanwhile in many of the Republican states universities and college are dropping anything LGBTQ+ 

Students switch up college plans as states pass anti-LGBTQ laws

Students, parents and college counselors say some LGBTQ youth are choosing not to attend colleges in states that have passed legislation targeting their rights.

NBC News

By Rose Horowitch

March 4, 2023

Cody Nobles hopes to study environmental science or marine biology at a college on a shoreline town, where he can observe ocean life firsthand.

But after his native Florida adopted legislation restricting LGBTQ rights, Nobles, who is gay, is planning to find a similar environment in a different political climate. The 19-year-old says he wouldn't have to worry as much about discrimination or even physical assault in California.

“I came to reality and realized that I might actually have to involve those things into where I go, because you never know where I might be going," Cody said, expressing concern about the possibility of having to attend school in "a place that has a record of hate crimes or a very old-fashioned point of view when it comes to gender.”

And Cody is not alone.

Interviews with students, parents and college counselors suggest LGBTQ young people are striking colleges in states where such legislation is being pushed. Some students worry about having access to hormone therapy while away at school, some want to attend schools with all-gender housing options, and others fear hostile rhetoric puts them at a heightened risk of physical violence.

The American Medical Association reported a study that found,

Gay, lesbian and bi medical students report worse emotional climate

By Brendan Murphy

June 22, 2022

Medical students who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have less favorable perceptions of their learning environment than those who are straight—and could be linked to higher rates of burnout, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

[…]

Meanwhile, the study says, “bisexual and gay or lesbian students were more likely to be in the top quartile for burnout scores.” That association, the authors wrote, “was attenuated when accounting for student perceptions of the learning environment ... with poorer perceptions of the medical school learning environment associated with higher burnout symptoms.”

We are not alone in the great migration of healthcare providers out of Republican states.

A challenge for antiabortion states: Doctors reluctant to work there

Recruiters say OB/GYNs are turning down offers, a warning for conservative-dominated states already experiencing shortages

Washington Post

By Christopher Rowland

August 6, 2022

The trouble for Texas: Because of the state’s strict antiabortion laws, Bardhi’s not sure he will remain there.

Although he doesn’t provide abortion care right now, laws limiting the procedure have created confusion and uncertainty over what treatments are legal for miscarriage and keep him from even advising pregnant patients on the option of abortion, he said. Aiding and abetting an abortion in Texas also exposes doctors to civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.

“It definitely does bother me,” Bardhi said. “If a patient comes in, and you can’t provide them the care that you are supposed to for their well-being, maybe I shouldn’t practice here. The thought has crossed my mind.”

They are letting their feet do the walking!

The right-wingers say “good riddance” but wait until they need an OB/GYN doctor or a a pediatrician for their child and there is a six month wait to see a doctor. The Washington Post goes on to write,

One large health-care staffing firm, AMN Healthcare, said clients in states with abortion bans are having greater trouble filling vacancies because some prospective OB/GYN candidates won’t even consider opportunities in states with new or pending abortion bans.

Tom Florence, president of Merritt Hawkins, an AMN Healthcare company, cited 20 instances since the Supreme Court ruling where prospects specifically refused to relocate to states where reproductive rights are being targeted by lawmakers.

“To talk to approximately 20 candidates that state they would decline to practice in those restrictive states, that is certainly a trend we are seeing,” Florence said. “It is certainly going to impact things moving forward.”

Three candidates turned down one of the firm’s recruiters, who was working to fill a single job in maternal fetal medicine in Texas, he said: “All three expressed fear they could be fined or lose their license for doing their jobs.”

The Republicans in their religious holy war against anything LGBTQ+ or women rights don’t see the wider picture in how it is effecting college enrollment, business recruitment, and medical staffing. They believe that they are fighting a crusade against evil (Us. The LGBTQ+ community) until they need a doctor, until their children choose a college then they will just blame us again. It will be all our fault.

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*So far all the tests came back negative.  My x-rays of my lungs  were clear, Stress test showed no heart problems, Nuclear Cardiac Test showed normal heart function and now the Pulmonary test came back negative.