LGBT+ Community
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Who are you?
I'm Tayler! I am a senior at Portland State University, studying for pre-med with a spanish minor. I've always had a passion for the medical field and, as I've learned more about the injustices, have developed an interest in sexuality studies. Through my studies, I've noticed a problem.
So what's the problem, Tayler?
There's a disconnect between the two communities. Medical professionals don't understand the bodies of LGBT+ people, whether it comes to education, access to resources, or even acceptance. In turn, LGBT+ people don't trust their providers. This is something people can turn a blind eye to sometimes, but it really struck a cord with me. There are people needing help who can't get it, either due to social stigma or provider incompetence.
So I asked myself, what can I do to change this? |
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What did I do?
In response to these discoveries, I created a survey. I put this out on my social medias and asked people to share it with their friends too. All in all, I received 103 responses to the survey over a one month span.
There were 20 questions, none of which were required but highly appreciated. The first few questions looked at the demographics of the people filling them out, looking specifically at their sexual and romantic experiences along with both sexual and gender identities. The next part looked at how the individual filling it out views the medical field, whether or not they trust their providers with their identities, and if they've had any experiences within the medical field that they felt were important. I heard a lot of important insights to a life of fear of doctors and medical professions, and, as an aspiring doctor, it hurt. People talked about the "Doctors who don't make the mental effort to try to understand" and being "Something to be treated not understood." We need to change. Not everyone sees it and not everyone understands it, but there is a problem that needs to be fixed. LGBT+ people are not getting the care they need, even though they are a higher risk population for things such as mental illnesses and sexually transmitted diseases. They are much more unlikely to be insured. The message is clear: they don't understand my body" |
Several resources I used during this process:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64801/ https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0277 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749379719305070 https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=69aVDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=lgbt+healthcare+discrimination+statistics&ots=iWRAprsolL&sig=YLTFsWPTP63dt4tP0LhG1Tu-j14#v=onepage&q=lgbt%20healthcare%20discrimination%20statistics&f=false http://www.glma.org/ https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/federal-protections-health-care-risk-transgender-americans |
I'd like to extend a special thank you to all the people who helped make this survey what it was. Everyone who participated helped me learn more about who I am and what I care for. I've learned more about the community around me and where I can go from here. I will be sure to continue my education and apply these learnings in my future practice.
Thank you
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