Pride in Academic Medicine

As we close out Pride Month, lets continue to uplift LGBTQ+ voices within the Academic Medicine community – our doctors, professors, researchers, deans, medical students and more – who, despite being historically silenced and underrepresented, are working to save lives every day. I was moved by their responses to my question: what does Pride mean to you? Thank you for getting to know some of my #AcademicMedicine colleagues and their stories in my first LinkedIn article. ?

Tanmoy Das Lala MD-PhD, Student at the Weill Cornell/ Rockefeller/Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program?

“As a medical student, Pride feels like a special celebration of inclusivity and resilience: within ourselves, among our peers, as well as our patients. And more personally, as someone who has had a difficult time coming out to family that resulted in many frayed relationships and persisting detachments, it is a time for me to reflect on and vocalize the ache I have harnessed for who I love, and to ensure that if someone else is suffering silently that they are not alone. More broadly, Pride month serves as a platform to re-emphasize the immense health care disparities that people in my LGBTQ community face — from substance use to cardiovascular health, from the scarcity of gender-affirming care to other mental health challenges from minority stigma— and a time to recommit our efforts in mobilizing more accepting health care and political ecosystems.”?

Mark Schuster , MD, PhD, Founding Dean and CEO, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine?

“Pride Month reminds me of going to my first pride march, fearful that I would be photographed or seen by someone from my hometown. It turned out to be incredible. It was amazing to see so many happy people. This was before many allies marched (although seeing the PFLAG contingent always got the tears flowing), so I could look all around and see an endless sea of people with whom I shared a part of my identity. I was optimistic seeing so many willing to stand up and be counted. I forgot about my fears and felt embraced by a community of peers. Every year at Pride I think about how far I have come and how far our country has come since the 1980s.”???

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Carl Streed Jr MD, MPH, FACP, FAHA , Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, and Research Lead for the GenderCare Center at Boston Medical Center?

“As an associate professor of medicine, Pride means celebrating what we have achieved in improving the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ people and communities. It also means remembering the past harms committed by medicine against queer and gender nonconforming people. We need to hold both in mind when we celebrate Pride, because we cannot meaningfully move forward without remembering the past.”?

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Kimberly Templeton, MD, FAAOS, FAOA, FAMWA, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education at the University of Kansas Medical Center

“Pride is particularly important in the academic medicine community given the rates of burnout and attrition, especially over the past few years.?Burnout often arises when a physician feels as though they don't belong in their workplace or that their values are not reflected by their organization.?There are many factors that contribute to a feeling of not belonging, and that includes LGBTQ+ status.? Whether someone is out at work or not, they may be subjected to or be aware of comments or behaviors that demean those in these communities.?Pride is a way to remind that the entire medical community that LGBTQ+ professionals work in this field (although they may not be out), increase understanding of the challenges that are faced, especially by those in the LGBTQ+ communities with intersectional identities, and hopefully inspire everyone to make academic medicine welcoming to all.?

Gilbert Gonzales PhD, MHA, Assistant Professor at the Center for Medicine, Health and Society, the Program for Public Policy Studies, and the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University?

“Pride is an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and to reflect on the progress that has been made while aiming for LGBTQ+ health equity and justice.”?

Nelson Sanchez MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine??

“For me, PRIDE is a time for me to reflect on LGBTQ+ history, our community’s current place in the world, and where we hope to be in the future.? Historically, LGBTQ+ health professionals could not be out and work in academic medicine.? In some parts of America, this continues to be true today. I hope for a future where no one fears being who they are in their community or workplace, and I hope that my peers continue to serve as out and proud mentors, champions, and sponsors for the next generation of LGBTQ+ health professionals.”?