February, 1990

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 7

The making of Dr. Right

Task force targets medical students, residents, physicians

by Steven Hurt

"Are you sexually active?" posed the middle-aged, male doctor to his young female patient.

"Well, yes," she replied tentatively. "What method of birth control do you use?" continued the doctor.

She whispered, "Why, none at all. I'm a lesbian."

Immediately, the doctor's face grew intense with displeasure, never once having considered that the patient before him might be a lesbian.

Addressing those issues which affect medical practitioners and their interactions with gays, lesbians and bisexuals is the focus of the work done by a Cleveland-area medical student and resident doctor's group.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual People in Medicine (LGBPM) Task Force was formed in 1986 at the Case Western Reserve University Medical School by four medical students, and today claims nearly sixty members.

The LGBPM serves the lesbian and gay community by reaching out to gay and lesbian medical students and resident doctors. The LGBPM holds monthly meetings in private homes to offer gay medical practitioners an opportunity to meet, share concerns and coordinate educational plans. Confidentiality of the identities of those who attend is paramount to the group. The LGBPM seeks to increase the number of resident doctors among its ranks in 1990.

Go tell it on the mountain. Education of doctors and students alike is a major activity of the organization. Each year, LGBPM presents their "Program on Homosexuality" to Case Western Reserve medical students during a regularly scheduled class period. A presentation is made by a gay physician and a lesbian physician about the special needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual patients. Those needs include confidentiality, emphasis on sexually transmitted disease education and a non-judgmental respect for a patient's sexual orientation. "The yearly Case program points out

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that there are many gay people whom we do not know to be gay," says local LGBPM member and national task force co-chair Ivy Brackup. “A doctor needs to be sensitive to the issues of gay patients. Doctors are now aware that they have to know more about sexually transmitted diseases. The AIDS epidemic has brought out the need for STD education to the forefront and has made it more acceptable for doctors to even ask about STDs, especially since AIDS can lead to the patient's death."

Dissension in the ranks. Doug Van Auken, another leader of the CWRUbased LGBPM, reports that relations between the student group and Case Western Reserve University medical school are amicable. The school provides funding for the speakers who appear for the Program Homosexuality, permits the use of its facilities for social gatherings and fosters the group by distributing LGBPM literature to new students.

on

Though relations with the school are pleasant, Van Auken has some problems with individual physicians.

"The psychoanalytic union states that homosexuality is still a disease, even though the American Medical Association removed homosexuality from its list of diagnosable mental illnesses in 1973," according to Van Auken. "There are psychiatrists at the medical school who have made half a career out of trying to cure homosexuals. Some of them still cling to that idea. But others have adjusted somewhat. We have to educate those who are still open minded."

Van Auken has far ranging goals for LGBPM.

"In the long run, we would like to have a network of support for lesbian, gay and bisexual doctors, residents and students to promote health and health issues in the community. We want sexuality treated in a non-judgmental way when a patient sees his primary health care physician," he said. "There are a lot of issues for gays: family and adoption, foster parenting, artificial insemination, teaching of sexuality in medical schools and to patients themselves."

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Lingering fears. Ivy Brackup believes medical students traditionally fear discrimination at the hands of their teachers and administrators.

"Though individuals vary, most students fear that they may not qualify for the residency of their choice if they are out of the closet to their hospital residency interviewer," Brackup said. "These interviews are highly subjective, and a gay student can be gotten rid of for a variety of easily-disguised reasons. During the third and fourth years of medical school, there are subjective evaluations which can be prone to discrimination if a student is out of the closet to peers and instructors."

Brackup sees a dark trend among medical students today.

"There are so few people in medical school and residency programs who are out, even in regard to the confidential student's group," she said. "Each year there are fewer students joining. I think that there is more pressure to conform today due to fear of discrimination from staff members."

"At Case, I think that this fear is groundless," Brackup continued. "I have had a positive experience here in coming out, and I hope that my experience would be an example to others as others' positive experiences have been a model for me. Having a model makes coming out here feel so much safer."

In addition to educating Case medical students and area hospital residents about how to respond to gay patients, LGBPM offers valuable networking services by drawing together isolated gay medical practitioners. The group can be of great support during the four years of medical school and three to five years of residency.

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The group holds monthly meetings. Contact those listed at the end of this article for more information.

Finding a friendly doctor. Another gay-oriented medical group in Cleveland is the Cleveland Area Physicians for Human Rights. This group includes residents and doctors and began two years ago. Posters at local hospitals, a listing on the Lesbian-Gay Hotline and advertisements in gay publications are methods that the physicians' group uses to attract members.

The group offers events, picnics, lectures and monthly potluck dinners. Their January 8 meeting featured a representative from Prudential-Bache who spoke on the legal benefits that married heterosexuals have for retirement benefits and financial security versus what is currently available for lesbians and gays.

A recent project of the Physicians for Human Rights group is to assemble a referral list of physicians who work well with the gay community. The list is comprised of those physicians which are recommended directly by members of the gay community at large. Once recommended, the group contacts the physicians to see if they wish for their name to appear on the referral list. Currently, nearly 35 physicians are recommended.

To obtain a list of recommended doctors, or to recommend a doctor for the list, or to have information sent to you regarding either LGBPM or the human rights group, contact: Ivy Brackup, c/o The Cleveland Association of Physicians for Human Rights, Box 15471, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 or Doug Van Auken at 281-7418.

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