At the corner of caring and equality: AAMC Axis Webinar on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth

This webinar, entitled The Nuts and Bolts of Caring for and Teaching about Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth, was the first project completed by my small subcomittee of the AAMC AXIS committee (see: I said yes: AAMC Advisory Committee on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Development).

During the presentation by Michelle M. Forcier, MD, MPH and Jennifer L. Rehm, MD, emcee’d by Henry Ng, MD, MPH (@TheDrHenry) and Jason Schneider, MD (@DoctorJss), I was reminded how far we have come.

There was a time, not too long ago, when I peer-reviewed a presentation about LGBTQ health that began the section on transgender person health by quoting the cost of the highest priced surgery. This demonstrated a lack of empathy for LGBTQ people as well as inaccurate knowledge of the science. See this blog post for more info about cost of care (it’s negligible): Just Read: Latest study on costs of coverage for transgender person care: still negligible.

In LGBTQ health terms that was a long time ago and now there’s a community of physician leaders who embrace science and empathy. Forcier and Rehm educated on the science and benefits of supervised medical care, backed by evidence. The response to our tweets during the session demonstrated appreciation for this perspective.

Our own Dr. Jennifer Rehm! #uwpedsendo #transyouth #courage https://t.co/rFYU8LRPRK

— Allison Pollock (@PollockMD) May 6, 2016

It’s great to see the medical profession changing, learning to love better, with physicians leading the way. I agree: #transtastic.

What a #transtastic day! #acp2016 #transhealth talk then @AAMCtoday #trans and GNC youth webinar! @tedeytan @doctorjss

— Henry Ng, MD, MPH, FACP 🌈 (@thedrhenry) May 5, 2016

Thanks Association of American Medical Colleges (@AAMCToday), and specifically Tiffani St. Cloud, CPC (@tstcloud), and Noah Perry, for their help. More photos below, enjoy.

Slides and recording of the presentation will be posted soon. I’ll tweet them / blog them here.