Difference between revisions of "Prominent Medical Practitioners Who Identify as LGBTQ"

Revision as of 15:30, 7 August 2018

Recent research reports suggest that finding doctors competent to care for LGBTQ patients is becoming increasingly more difficult. It is therefore worth looking at the presence of LGBTQ medical practitioners who have made, or are making, an important contribution to this professional field.

Whereas LGBTQ individuals may suffer the same medical conditions as society as a whole, it is known that their outcomes are worse. A large part of this is because few doctors identify themselves as knowledgeable and culturally competent with the community, and few hospitals have programs to train staff about the characteristics of the community. It is only in recent years that professional medical associations began accepting and recognizing the presence of LGBTQ physicians. Thirty percent of LGBTQ medical students in western countries, and two thirds of gender minority students, hide their sexual identity during medical school based on their fear of discrimination.

In this environment, having LGBTQ mentors and role models plays an important role. There is representation of these individuals, but knowledge about them is scarce or non-existent. A few examples of outstanding role models include:

• the first practicing women physician in Scotland was lesbian Margaret Todd;
• the first practicing women physician in Queensland, Australia was lesbian Lilian Violet Cooper;
• the world's first transgender President of a medical staff at a hospital is Canadian Carys Massarella;
• physician Tom Waddell founded the Gay Games;
• Britain's Florence Nightingale created the nursing profession.

Embracing diversity in the medical field can greatly enhance the quality of medical care to a community.

Australia

• Bob Brown
• Lilian Violet Cooper
• Kerryn Phelps

Cameroon

• Steave Nemande

Canada

• Evan Adams
• Peter Jepson-Young
• Sue Johanson
• Carys Massarella

Germany

• Ernst Burchard
• Karin Buttner-Janz
• Charlotte Wolff

Great Britain

• Laurence Michael Dillon
• Henry Havelock Ellis
• Sir Ewan Forbes - Semphill
• Christian Jessen
• Sophia Jex-Blake
• Louisa Martindale
• Billy Nichols
• Florence Nightingale

Ireland

• James Miranda Barry
• Kathleen Lynn
• Leo Varadkar

Nigeria

• Ifeanyi Orazulike

Portugal

• Asdrubal Antonio d'Aguiar

Scotland

• Margaret Todd

Uganda

• Paul Semugoma

United States

• Donald Abrams
• Rebecca Allison
• Dr. S. Josephine Baker
• Howard Brown
• Margarethe Cammermeyer
• Charlie Suzi Chapler
• Valerie Fein-Zachary
• Stephen Goldstone
• Mike Gotlieb
• Alan L. Hart
• Matt Heinz
• Uzodinma Iweala
• Peter O'Donnell
• Louise Pearce
• Hector Vargas
• Tom Waddell
• C. Dale Young

See Also

• LGBTQ Psychiatrists and Psychotherapists
• LGBTQ Individuals in the Fields of Sociology and Anthropology

Further Reading/Research

• http://www.glma.org/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22029561
• https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/02/many-lgbt-medical-students-choose-to-stay-in-the-closet.html
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lgbt-healthcare-lists-idUSKBN0NC2HE20150421
• http://www.physicianspractice.com/healthcare-careers/changing-times-lgbt-physicians

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