First Impressions: (Student Perspective) The LGBT community faces significant challenges as it pertains to acquiring health care which has resulted in healthcare disparities far beyond the unique needs of the community. The average medical school provides only five hours of LGBT health related education with a third of schools providing zero hours causing many students to feel ill prepared to serve this community. Of those schools that provide LGBT education, LGBT healthcare tends to be segmented in its own mini-module and not brought throughout the rest of the curriculum. At the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), LGBT issues are mentioned, however, they are not spread extensively throughout the curriculum, a situation in the process of being changed.
With a concern that LGBT issues were addressed primarily in a sexuality module or addressed in the context of HIV, sexual disorders, and interviewing teenagers. JABSOM also had two PBL (problem based learning) cases which have LGBT patients or family members. One was a gay male with Crohn’s disease whose sexuality was limited to the factors which could cause his disorder to get worse and the other was a patient with two mothers where the doctor was awkward around discussing parental consent with the non-biological mother.
With the desire to expand LGBT healthcare throughout the curriculum, other ways to supplement the LGBT healthcare curriculum have been suggested. These include adding lectures specifically devoted to LGBT healthcare, adding LGBT panels, and to find additional ways to explore LGBT topics in PBL cases. One case was redesigned and another was created. In one PBL case, the patient has two mothers and the doctor must find a way to discuss parental consent with the non-biological mother but this time it was not to be awkward. In the other, a male-to-female transsexual wishes to start hormone therapy. Both of these cases allow students to practice and think about the issues and how they would react before a real life situation occurs. Additionally, due to the complexity of LGBT issues, an LGBT healthcare elective course was created at JABSOM.
These suggestions for JABSOM could more readily be applied to other medical schools that desire to increase the awareness of LGBT health issues. For example, during discussions on public health, a lecturer could discuss LGBT stigma and how it can affect the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The LGBT health care elective, even if only for a few contact hours a semester, could provide information to students. Having been present on LGBT health panels in the past, I have seen the “lightbulb” moment for fellow medical students when they speak to someone who was telling what it is like to be a sexual minority trying to overcome the barriers when trying to seek health care. It is only by continuing to seek out ways to better serve all communities that we will be able to overcome the stigmas and make health care more accessible to all.
Melvin S. Marsh, MS
MD Candidate, Class of 2019
Medical College of Georgia
Augusta University
Abstract: No abstract for this article.
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