queer in medicine Archives

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Coming out isn’t a one-time event for LGBTQ+ medical students; it happens again with each new preceptor, patient, and small-talk question.

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Dave is joined by M3 Jacob Thompson, M2s Charis Edwards and Cyrus Barati, and Dr. Katie Imborek. Imborek is a family medicine physician, clinical professor and vice chair of clinical operations at the University of Iowa who founded Carver’s LGBTQ+ student organization and helped launch the UI LGBTQ+ Clinic in 2011. Imborek came to Iowa from a small rural college in Indiana where the only gay person she knew of was Ellen DeGeneres, who came out and promptly got fired. She arrived at Carver in 2004, when the LGBTQ student club was called “the Group” so nobody reading over your shoulder in the MERF computer lab would know what the email was about. How did she get from being told to leave it off her personal statement to a professorship built on queer health scholarship? Jacob got the same personal statement advice years later and refused it. Why, he asked himself, would he want to go to a school that didn’t want him because he’s gay?

But, as in many situations, being queer in medicine means coming out over and over again, and it can feel unsafe. What does that mean for a queer medical student? Sometimes it means a preceptor who never invites you to the family dinner he hosts for other students. Sometimes it means worry about a negative evaluation. Imborek points out that everyone at the table is cisgender and can pass as cis, and that passing comes with safety others don’t have. For a trans woman of color on a rural rotation, for example, the question isn’t just about grades.

The group also talks about how their identities mesh with their care of patients. Should doctors ask every patient about sexual orientation, gender identity, pronouns, and partners, even the ones who came in for a rash? As emotionally charged as these ideas are in the early 21st century, Dr. Imborek asserts that these are medical questions, vital to establishing care and providing differential diagnoses.

Episode credits:

Producer: Cyrus Barati
Co-hosts: Charis Edwards, Jacob Thompson, Cyrus Barati
Guest: Dr. Katie Imborek
Production: SCP Media Lab–Anna Royer, Cyrus Barati, Isa Perez-Sandi, Zach Grissom, Sarah Upton, Srishti Mathur, David Lee, and Jacob Thompson

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa, the Carver College of Medicine, or the State of Iowa. All discussions are intended for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition. Always seek qualified professional guidance for personal decisions.

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