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“The university has been a national leader in creating
an inclusive campus environment for LGBT people, and
the eQuality initiative is an exciting next step. We will
be preparing the very best health care professionals and
sending them out to an LGBT community that desperately needs them,” said Brian Buford, Assistant Provost
for Diversity and Director of the LGBT Center at U of L.
“It is a privilege to develop this curriculum for our
medical students. It is critical for our students to be
competent and compassionate in the delivery of care
to the LGBT community,” said M. Ann Shaw, MD, MA,
Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at the U
of L School of Medicine.
“Patient fears about judgment, discrimination, or
lack of acceptance in the health care setting fuels many
of the health disparities we see across our health care system,” says
Amy Holthouser, MD, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Medical
Education at the U of L School of Medicine. “Preventive measures
often fail because patients who have had a previous negative experience are much more reluctant to follow up for recommended
preventive care or seek help early in an illness, perpetuating the cycle
of health disparity. We are seeking to break the cycle by ensuring
all graduates have the tools to create the welcoming and affirmative
environment that all patients deserve from a competent physician.”
This project is building on the great success of The University
of Louisville LGBT Health and Wellness Competency Certificate
Program. The program consists of six inter-professional sessions of
Medical, Dental, Nursing, and Public Health students and includes
LGBT health topics such as: 1) Culturally Competent Care for LGBT
Patients; 2) Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; 3) Taking
an Inclusive History/Risk Reduction Counseling; 4) Understanding
the T in LGBT; 5) LGBT Mental Health; and 6) HIV Epidemiology.
The inaugural year of the program confirmed strong student interest, with a total of 250 students from the health sciences schools
attending at least one session and an average of 70 in each session.
U of L will spend the next several months developing the formal curriculum and will begin the pilot program in the 2015-16
academic year, with full implementation into the curriculum in
2016-17. The UME office is assembling an eQuality advisory team
of local experts in LGBT and DSD patient care and curriculum
David Wiegman, PhD, Professor of Physiology, Stacie Steinbock, M. Ed, School
of Medicine Dean Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA and Brian Buford, M. Ed., attend the
HSC Pride Cookout.
development to lead efforts: Amy Holthouser, MD (Med-Peds),
Veronnie Faye Jones, MD, PhD (Pediatrics), Suzanne Kingery, MD
(Pediatric Endocrinology), Karen Krigger, MD (Family Medicine),
Leslee Martin, MA (UME Curriculum Development/Evaluation),
Susan Sawning, MSSW (Social Work/UME Research), M. Ann
Shaw, MD, MA (Internal Medicine), Clayton Smith, MD (Internal
Medicine), Stacie Steinbock, M.Ed. (Human Sexuality), and Kari
Zahorik, MD (Family Medicine/Campus Health). Specific curriculum examples might involve: taking a DSD-Affected patient inclusive
sexual history, mental health and the LGBT adolescent patient, and
a standardized patient case involving end-of-life decision-making
for a same-sex couple.
“The new LGBT curriculum will not only help us medical students
to be better doctors, but the entire community will surely benefit
from the compassionate spirit and inclusive philosophy behind
this education,” said Marlowe Dieckmann, a second year medical
student. “We will soon be able to give a better level of care to this
historically neglected patient population. It is very exciting to be
part of a medical school that is leading the way in LGBT education.
I am thankful that our administration, faculty, staff and students had
the vision and the courage to advocate for the LGBT curriculum. I
am proud to be a medical student here.”
It is our goal that the entire community will benefit from eQuality.
The city of Louisville has a large LGBT population but no LGBT
community center; therefore, the LGBT Center at U of L is often the
first point of contact for LGBT people seeking health care resources.
Much of its success is tied to a strong community partnership that
created Feast on Equality three years ago, a signature dinner event
that raises funds for the center. The one-of-a-kind event was born
out of the vision of founder Tommy Arnold, who heard that there
were LGBT students who were not welcome home during the holidays because of their identity. Moved to action, he started hosting
an annual Thanksgiving dinner to serve those displaced students
Left to right: Dr. Jyme Charette, Prosthedontic Resident at the University of
Louisville School of Dentistry, Stacie Steinbock, Director, LGBT Center Satellite
Office on the Health Sciences Center Campus, Dr. James Ramsey, President,
and Brian Buford, Assistant Provost for Diversity and Director of the LGBT
Center at UofL.
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE