The Penn Medicine Program for LGBTQ Health, which began in 2013, is aimed at “providing the best care for the LGBTQ community in a safe and friendly environment.” That includes care that is culturally competent and free of judgment.
As a gay man, physician Kevin Kline feels a kinship with the LGBTQ patients he treats at the Penn Medicine Program for LGBTQ Health. He believes that he can empathize with the hardships they face.
Recently, Penn Medicine received national acclaim, being designated a “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which focuses on LGBTQ issues. This is especially true for those trained in the ‘90s and before. There wasn’t a robust recognition of the need to care for this population and the specific health concerns that they might have.In the bigger picture, it’s really not that different. A lot of it is trauma-informed care that we should be providing for everyone.
For a lot of trans people, it becomes traumatic to have the courage to bring that up to a provider, and then to be met with a lack of knowledge about what the next steps even are or, at worst, to be met with hostility.Unfortunately, yes, it is unusual. Programs like this don’t exist in many parts of the country. Bigger academic health systems like Penn may have similar programs, and some smaller programs have been developed in the last decade or so.
When they come to us, they’re often surprised and grateful. It’s one of the great parts of the job, to be able to offer that to people.I want all of our graduates, no matter what area they want to go into, to leave feeling comfortable taking care of LGBTQ patients. When a patient comes in and asks about hormone therapy, the correct response is to talk about it, not say “I don’t know how to do that” or “I’m not comfortable with that.” We’re not there yet, but we’re making strides.
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