QUEERMED

A queer premed student just trying to navigate through life

[everythingfox]

Incredible reflexes

[thesilentpotato]

she did THAT™

[queermed]

Honestly, so excited to see her at Coachella!

[queermed]

Side hustle

It’s been hard trying to get a part-time job while I’m finishing up my post-bacc program this year. In the meantime, I applied to be a Wag dog walker and have my orientation this Monday. It’s pretty much like being a Uber driver but for dogs!! So I ain’t mad. Whenever I have free time I’ll see if I can walk a dog or two. Anything to get money. 

[ucresearch]

Dr. Eric Goosby: HIV/AIDS pioneer

Credit: George McCalman “First, do no harm.”

In the 1980s, the medical establishment didn’t always heed this call when it came to HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS may be manageable now, but in the early days it was a mystery and often ignored, as it primarily affected gay men and was accompanied by stigma and shame. Many doctors and medical administrators stood by as the disease took its toll. Eric Goosby was one of the pioneers who shed light and provided much-needed treatment.

The fight against HIV/AIDS has consumed Goosby’s entire career, and millions of lives have been bettered thanks to the intensity of his commitment. Goosby received his M.D. in 1978 from UCSF, completing his residency there in 1981 — the first year AIDS was clinically observed by UCLA doctor Michael Gottlieb. By the time his fellowship at UCSF ended in 1983, San Francisco was in a full-blown crisis, and Goosby was on the front lines, a member of the revolutionary Ward 86, the first dedicated AIDS clinic in the country.

Credit: UCSF  Figuring out the nature of the crisis, while trying to treat it, absorbed the doctors of Ward 86, who developed the “San Francisco Model” of care: a patient-centered collaboration with a wide network of carers, including social workers, mental health care providers, addiction specialists and community organizers. This model has become the standard of care around the world. Goosby focused on establishing partnerships with methadone maintenance clinics to help addicts obtain HIV services, as IV users were less likely to seek treatment and the black community was overrepresented among injection drug users.

Even as Goosby and Ward 86 attacked AIDS on multiple fronts, patients were slipping away. Goosby and the other doctors fell into despair during therapeutic group sessions and struggled to maintain their personal relationships. The fight was further complicated by a lack of response from the federal government, who ignored the epidemic for many years. There wasn’t funding for research, education or treatment programs for this national health crisis. In cities that weren’t using the “San Francisco Model,” those with HIV/AIDS were suffering, especially patients from marginalized communities that were being misdiagnosed and poorly served.

Dr. Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, gives his perspective on 30 years of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. Credit: HIV.gov Fed up with inaction, and having lost his 500th patient, Goosby moved to Washington, D.C., in 1991 to direct HIV Services at the Health and Human Services Department, spreading the approach of the San Francisco Model throughout the country. Even as he took on this important federal role, he practiced part-time in an AIDS clinic in the city’s public hospital, D.C. General. As an administrator, he brought funding and services to 25 AIDS epicenters and to all 50 states and U.S. territories, and rose up the ladder to become director of the health department’s office of HIV/AIDS policy. He later became President Clinton’s senior advisor on HIV-related issues and helped initiate a dialogue on racial disparities in HIV/AIDS that formed the basis of the Minority AIDS Initiative.

As treatment slowly began to advance in the U.S., Goosby turned his attention to the rest of the world, where poorer nations, in particular, were finding themselves devastated by the disease. After working on scaling up treatment in Rwanda, South Africa, China and Ukraine as CEO of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, Goosby was nominated by President Obama to serve as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administer the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), a $48 billion program credited with cutting AIDS deaths by 10 percent in some countries.

The remarkable career of Eric Goosby has no end in sight. In addition to serving as the U.N. special envoy for tuberculosis, Goosby is a professor of medicine at UCSF. And, of course, he returned to care for patients at Ward 86, which continues to provide treatment and set standards for prevention and care around the world.

“It’s just something that is almost like breathing to me. I love practicing medicine; I love helping people in that way; I like using my mind in that way; maybe I love pushing people around; maybe I love telling people what to do. I don’t know what it is, but I cannot imagine not doctoring.”

[neutrois]

Med students create app to connect LGBTQ patients with inclusive doctors

For the founders of the SpectrumScores app — who are all University of Pennsylvania medical students — the disparities in LGBTQ health care is personal.

Three medical students at the University of Pennsylvania are getting ready launch their LGBTQ-focused health care app, SpectrumScores, by the end of August.

The app will connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer patients with doctors who have been recognized as LGBTQ-friendly by advocacy organizations, academic medical centers and, eventually, the app users themselves.

[trikovaheda-deactivated20200201]

https://spectrumscores.kickoffpages.com

Here’s a link to their site.

[biwomensuggestion]

Updated link: http://www.spectrumscores.org/

[mofohngo]

@slangtasy

[coke-hyena]

AMAZING! I love the girls

[ermedicine]

yassss

[queermed]

Shadowing at a Public Hospital in the Philippines Pt. 1

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shadow a physician in the department of surgery (with the help from my aunt, who has crazy connections)  for half a day while I’m in the Philippines for holidays. Up until the day of my visitation I merely thought I was shadowing a surgeon while their consulting with patients, but once I got to the hospital my aunt told me I get to be inside the operation room observing whatever procedure they have that day. Note that this was at a public hospital in the Philippines, which are often underdeveloped, ill-equipped, (or “unkempt,” my aunt says) due to being heavily underfunded. Whatever excitement I felt was also accompanied with apprehension and curiosity. What the hell should I expect?

The minute the car parked in front of the hospital, I understood what my aunt was trying to telling to me. On the left side of the lot was the original building and it looked like a scene from the Walking Dead. The cemented walls were weathered. Windows broken. Abandoned. 

Right beside it stood the functional building, painted in bright colors. Perhaps to hide its own imperfections? Inside was another story. Not every floor had restrooms, and those that do lacked proper sanitation. Machines were a little outdated. Even still, doctors kept working because patients kept coming. There was still a need to serve the local community there, and it’s better to have an old hospital then no hospital. 

[cranquis]

Ask Me Anything: Is it ok to worry about med-school debt?

thecraftypremed asked:

Hiya Dr. Cranquis!

One of the things I’m concerned about going into the medical profession is the amount of debt I’d be going into. I know money shouldn’t be of concern if I’m going into a career that I want to be in, but I also don’t want to be in a financial mess. How do you manage to pay off student loans while getting on with your life (having a Cranq-family & all that jazz)? 

EXCELLENT question - I’m going to start off by pointing you to me #financial aid tag, which contains quite a few prior replies/posts about this very question.

However, I also want to specifically address a misconception I detected in your question: “If you’re going into a career which you enjoy, and/or which is primarily focused on helping others, then it’s uncouth/impolite/a sign of weakness to express concern about the financial debt which that career entails, right?”

Read More

[modernathenamd]

Athena what really is the difference between a DO and a MD? Why do I have it in my mind that I want to be a DO rather than an MD without knowing anything about them besides that, supposedly, it is 'easier' to get a job with MD?

I actually applied both routes. The DO mentality really struck me at the time (of course, now it totally escapes me) but I ended up choosing an MD program that incorporated a lot of the empathy and whole-person/values-based care that I saw and liked at the DO schools I applied to. The real difference between MD and DO is rapidly getting smaller. Initially there were a lot of bigger differences, but as we move towards combined residency programs, that’s changing.

There is a lingering stigma, a dumb one, about DOs being less well educated, because it’s a newer discipline and as such has experienced its growing pains. When I was applying, the schools I looked at had lower GPA and MCAT requirements, in order to catch students who wanted to be doctors but didn’t make the cut for MD school- but their board scores were comparable, and their students matched well. And some schools were just as competitive as some of the top MD schools. I had a personal prejudice originally, that I overcame with exposure- I visited a DO school in the area as part of a high school program, and they were dumbing down the OMM techniques to the point of making it seem like quackery. I think they failed to realize the GPA requirement and essays required to get into the program made us a bit more critical than the average 16 year old, and as a result a lot of us left with a sour taste in our mouths. But like I said, Osteopathic Medicine is still a baby in the context of medical history. As the different approach to medicine becomes more accepted, hopefully the stigma will go bye-bye and people will stop preferentially hiring/seeing allopaths- for example, I’ll be an allopath when I graduate in May 2017 and I am definitely less smarterer than a lot of my osteopath buddies.

The one big difference that I can tell you about is OMM. Osteopathic doctors use hands-on manipulation techniques to improve health and diminish pain. I’ve rarely seen it used in practice- maybe 3 times, despite a ton of the docs and residents I’m working with this year being DOs- because DOs who specialize really don’t have the opportunity to use it. My Family Med preceptor refers people to an OMM specialist in the area because “I’m good at migraines and hip pain and otherwise I’m all thumbs”. I’ve also seen two of my residents use it, one of them on inpatient for a woman who was experiencing some misalignment after all her time being bedbound. It’s super cool and I’m always excited to watch when they’re working on a patient.

Imma open this up to my Osteoblr buddies- I’m not so great at explaining the things.

[medamoiselle-blog]

1) I would suggest reading The Difference a DO Makes or this Brief Guide to Osteopathic Medicine to learn more about the profession and the difference between DOs and MDs. Pretty good reads. 

2) DOs are just as educated and capable as MDs.

3) DO students are not less qualified or smart than their MD counterparts. 

I’ve been accepted to MD and DO programs, so choosing/attending a DO school doesn’t mean that I didn’t have the scores/GPA or the strong application to get into an MD program. When it comes down to it, other (more important) factors make one program more attractive than others, at least for me. 

4) It’s not easier to get a job as an MD. It’s the same for both. 

5) From my experience, most patients don’t care or even know if their doc is an MD or DO. 

[beyondtheoath]

Most of these things are true.

We are not less educated or lesser physicians. We are found in all specialties.

Some of us choose to incorporate OMT into our practice, while many do not. It is a personal choice.

I’m happy to answer any questions regarding osteopathic medicine and DO schools in general from anyone!

[intrainingdoc]

I'd like to ask public opinion on lgbtq+ doctors. For example would it bother people to know their ob/gyne is a lesbian or that their general practitioner is trans? I have personal interest in this as I am a lesbian obstetrician and gynaecologist who is out to all family, friends and work colleagues but my patients do not know. I don't think my public life should be discussed with my patients anyway but would this really make a difference? Would people recoil in horror?

#medblr, thoughts?

[modernathenamd]

Personally, I wouldn’t flinch.

The old line “doctors don’t look at your body like that” is very true once you get your first awkward experiences out of the way. I have never once done a sensitive exam on either gender and had any thoughts that didn’t revolve around health and pathology. Except, during the first twenty male GU exams, “oh my god, old dude anatomy is weird”.

I know for a fact that my last gynecologist was lesbian. She didn’t talk about it in any concrete way of course, but when we made small talk, she’d talk about traveling with her partner, and there were pictures from their commitment ceremony on her desk (this was before my state legalized gay marriage). I never had a problem with her exams. When I left, it was because my insurance changed, not because of any discomfort with her or her preference of who she liked to get intimate with.

Tons of ObGyns are men. My mom sees a dude. Most of the docs I worked with on L&D were dudes. I personally have a lot of trust issues with men and am not ready to see a male gynecologist- but that’s entirely related to other causes, and has nothing to do with their gender. I watched women comfortably accept men in a very feminine-focused field. At least a lesbian/bi Obgyn is personally familiar with the anatomy & physiology.

If women trust men to be down there in our ladybits to do objective, professional exams and procedures without sexualizing us, we sure as hell should trust women, no matter their orientation.

[cranquis]

Terrific analysis!

My own metaphor for the “what’s the sexuality of the professional examining my junk?” concern is: just because I drive a Ford and the guy at the Jiffy Lube drives a Chevy doesn’t mean I won’t let him tinker around in my undercarriage.

[premedtomd-blog]

Med School Monday || Prerequisites for Medical School + A Checklist Download

So I’m trying to start a more regular posting called Med School Monday, where I share what I’ve learned from being a nontraditional premed…every Monday. Riveting. This week, I’m talking about medical school prerequisites and I’ve included a download for you at the end of the post!

OK. If you want to go to med school, you have to take and do well in specific courses to be eligible to apply. Every school is not exactly the same when it comes to prerequisites. Look at a mix of 5 schools you anticipate applying to and plan your premed schedule based on those. Keep in mind that prereqs can change year to year.

That being said, most schools typically require:

1 year general biology with labs

1 year general chemistry (aka inorganic chemistry) with labs

1 year organic chemistry with labs

1 year general physics with labs

1 semester of biochemistry

math through calculus

statistics

1 semester psychology

1 semester sociology

English composition

Why So Many Classes?

It used to just be the first four bullet points, which are what impact your science GPA and is highlighted in your med school application. But since the MCAT changed in 2015, the rest of the bullet points are becoming requirements for those applying in June 2016 and forward.

The number and scope of prerequisites have increased because, supposedly, the MCAT and the AAMC’s understanding of medicine have also broadened. What I can tell you from personal experience is that I was grateful to have taken all of those classes (and then some) when I took one of the first ‘new’ MCATs in 2015 — especially biochemistry!

Use the simple checklist I’ve made to help you keep track of your progress throughout your premed journey! Let me know if it proves useful :)

Prerequisite Checklist PDF 2015

Med School Monday || Prerequisites for Medical School + A Checklist Download was originally published on Premed to MD

[sketchshoppe]

For some Canadian universities, pre requisites have changed also. Make sure you check with the universities you plan on applying to before submitting your apps!

I know that pre-reqs used to be: -1 year biology -1 year inorganic chemistry - 1 year organic chemistry - 1 year physics -1 semester statistics - 1 semester English -1 semester Mathematics - 1 semester of humanities courses.

Regardless of an applicant’s degree, these pre- reqs had to be taken.

As of the last application cycle, some Canadian universities have removed ALL PRE REQUISITES for students, meaning that the above-mentioned courses are not necessary for application into medical school. However, that means there is a greater emphasis on overall GPA, MCAT score, ECs and LoRs.

So make sure you check with each university you plan on applying to that you have taken all necessary courses before application!

[conquertheuniversity-deactivate]

Writing your medicine personal statement

With only 4000 characters and 47 lines allotted to you to persuade medical schools why you will make the ideal medical student and future doctor, the personal statement can be a daunting task. However, armed with thorough research and all of the skills and experiences that you’ve picked up along the way on your journey to medical school, articulating yourself in this highly concise piece of writing is wholly possible. There is no right or wrong way to write a personal statement, and there’s no definitive structure out there that will guarantee that you gain that coveted place at medical school. Regardless, here are a few tips I’ve compiled that have helped me to develop my own personal statement and will hopefully give you a few pointers in writing your own.

Have you done your research? Before writing your personal statement, you need to make sure you have all the information you need. Different medical schools place emphasis on different aspects of your application, and since you can’t tailor your personal statement to suit the requirements of one university alone, you need to make sure that your personal statement meets the criteria for all of the choices you’ve made. This is a good time to go onto individual university websites or to flick through prospectuses, going through the course structure of each medical degree and familiarising yourself with the kind of medical applicant each university is looking for. Also, this is a good time to rule out any medical schools whose teaching styles don’t suit you. Once you’ve compiled enough information about what each medical school is looking for in an applicant, the extracurricular activities they may be interested in and the qualities and experiences they would like to see evidence of, it’s time to start writing your personal statement.

Why do you want to do medicine? This is a question that you’ll get asked at almost every stage on your way to medical school, and maybe even beyond. In fact, my friend who is now a third year medic was asked this recently, and I found myself asking the doctors I was shadowing what drew them to medicine as well. The amount of times I’ve been asked this question myself on my work experience alone was enough to tell me that this question is important and will continue to be brought up. It is therefore crucial that you have some sort of viable answer to this question. I struggle with this one a lot myself, and there may be many reasons for your interest in medicine that you can’t go into in too much detail in a document like a personal statement, where a character limit restricts you in terms of what you can share. However, what you do need to show is that medicine has been a continuous thought process. With a career as demanding as medicine, no admissions tutor wants to see a potential medic declare that their path to medicine was decided by an epiphany one afternoon, or that the answer to this question came to them in a dream. You need to show that you’ve given this huge decision the contemplation and thought it deserves. What is it you like about medicine? Maybe you’ve always had an interest in science, particularly the practical side of things. How did this lead to deciding on medicine? What made you certain that this was a career for you?

What sort of work experience do you have? This links nicely to the previous paragraph. To prove that you’ve given medicine some thought, you need to provide evidence that you understand the demands of the profession and that to some extent, you have an understanding of the career you’re getting yourself into. This paragraph is a good place to talk about some of the key things you’ve seen whilst on work experience. Don’t be tempted to write about every amazing procedure you’ve witnessed, or get too caught up in sharing all of the new medical terminology you’ve learnt. There really isn’t enough space to write about all of this (trust me - it’s been really difficult trying to choose what to include and what I can sacrifice!), but remember that you can save a lot of what you’ve learnt throughout your work experience for your interviews. Choose a few things that taught you about what it’s like to be a doctor, what qualities a doctor should have and maybe share some of the things that surprised you or even the negatives. There’s always something to be learned from bad experiences as well. How did the doctor you were shadowing deal with a difficult situation? What did this teach you about doctor-patient interactions? Draw on your experiences, but don’t just list them. Be introspective.

How can you show a commitment to medicine and healthcare? In this paragraph, it’s important to discuss any voluntary work you’ve undertaken that might have solidified your decision to become a doctor. Mention any long term (or short term) volunteering you’ve been doing, but most importantly, mention what you’ve gained from this. For example, has your volunteering made you more aware of the importance of other healthcare professionals? Has it taught you the importance of empathy? Do you now have a deeper appreciation for the emotional difficulties of the healthcare profession as a result of your volunteering? What have you enjoyed about it, and ultimately, in what ways do you think your volunteering has prepared you for a career in medicine?

What do you like to do in your spare time? Your life can’t be all about medicine, all of the time. Having now spent over half of your personal statement discussing all of the ways in which you’ve shown your dedication to the medical field, you also need to show that there are other dimensions to your character. Are you involved in any clubs or societies at school or university? Why do you enjoy attending these? Do you participate in sports? Do you play an instrument? Are you artistic? Do your other A level subjects supplement your interests? It is important to show that you have interests outside of medicine because medical schools need to see that you have a balance in your life. Maybe your artistic hobby allows you time to relax from your obviously busy schedule, or maybe your involvement in sports is a good stress relief and helps to keep you fit and healthy.

Why should the medical schools choose you? Finally, conclude with a few closing sentences summarising what you’ve said. Perhaps mention that you are well informed about all of the demands a medical career can have upon a person, and that your journey in conclusively deciding whether medicine is for you hasn’t always been easy. However, your experiences should have culminated in you ultimately deciding that this is a path worth pursuing, otherwise you wouldn’t be writing your personal statement for medical schools. What skills and qualities do you have that will make you a good candidate for medical school? Close with a reflective, resolute, well thought out statement that summarises why medicine is the most suitable fit for you. 

Overall, you really have to sell yourself in your personal statement. Make the medical schools see exactly why you’ll make a good doctor, and show them that you haven’t just woken up one day and suddenly decided that you’ll give medicine a go. Prove that you’ve given this potential career plenty of consideration, show them that you are a multifaceted person with varied interests and emphasise the qualities you believe will make you an excellent candidate for medical school. Be enthusiastic! There must be something you enjoy about medicine, so make sure that this passion shines through! Trying to do all of this whilst being concise is definitely a challenge, so be prepared to write several drafts of your personal statement before you get to a place where you’re 100% happy with it. Utilise the people around you - get your teachers or university tutors to read your personal statement, even your friends and family and maybe some of the contacts you’ve made whilst on work experience. Take their tips on board, but ultimately, make sure that your personal statement remains personal. Good luck!

[queermed]

First post

I honestly don’t know what to expect of this blog nor can I predict whether or not I’ll post anything regularly and consistently. I needed a platform where I write out of thoughts and feelings about certain issues or experiences under a veil of anonymity. Be it serious issues like sexism, homophobia, or racism that I encounter in life, or just how hard my physiological science midterm was. But I also hope to record any moments that inspire and humble me, anything that challenge my current understanding and allow me to grow. 

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing but fuck it. 

Let’s see where this goes!