A new UNM program helps medical students transition from their preclinical to intensive clinical years, and will now include LGBTQ-specific training.
This Friday, Safe Zone training will be added to the block, helping students support and respond to the LGBTQ community in a healthcare setting, said Dr. Cameron Crandall. This is part of the Health Sciences Center’s initiative to make curricular changes, many of which introduce LGBTQ-specific health topics.
“Safe Zone training provides learners with the 'ABCs' of the LGBTQ community, particularly as it relates to the healthcare setting,” Crandall said. “Learners will understand the common barriers to good patient care that LGBTQ patients often experience. The students will learn how to be an ally to LGBTQ patients and how to advocate on their behalf.”
Crandall is the director of HSC LGBTQ Diversity and Inclusion and a professor and vice chair for research within the School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
President of LGBTQ Students and Allies in Healthcare Kory Tillery, a second year medical student, said the training will help students understand what it means to be part of the LGBTQ community, and how the ways people approach healthcare situations are often related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The training will also improve activism for equality and alliances between LGBTQ community members and others, he said.
Although this training is offered at other schools, UNM is currently unaware of any other school that offers the training for all students, Crandall said.
“UNM offers Safe Zone training to individuals who request this training broadly,” he said. “This specific training is tailored to the healthcare setting and will (provide training to) the entire medical school class.”
Before these curricular reform efforts were put in place, the School of Medicine curriculum mentioned the LGBTQ community just once, student Jake Mayfield said.
Mayfield will be graduating from the UNM School of Medicine this year and will begin working with Internal Medicine at University of California, San Francisco in June. He said the training is part of the ongoing efforts of the UNM LGBTQ Students and Allies in Healthcare to improve LGBTQ New Mexicans’ access to competent and affirming healthcare.
Mayfield cofounded LSAH during his first year of medical school in 2013. The group is sponsored by Crandall.
“We have structured our efforts around the ‘salt and pepper’ approach: incorporating small changes wherever possible to move the curriculum from heteronormative to LGBTQ-inclusive,” Mayfield said. “For example, we previously modified the existing SOM sexual history-taking curriculum to include LGBTQ facets and appropriate reflective exercises.”
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Truman Health Services staff will offer healthcare-related LGBTQ cultural competency throughout the training. One of the hopes is that students who have completed this training can also educate the residents and attending physicians in their workplace on “the unique needs of LGBTQ people,” Mayfield said.
The Safe Zone training is designed to prepare medical students to understand and implement the terminology the LGBTQ community uses to describe itself in order to create a “welcoming environment for all patients,” he said. Students will also learn the fundamentals of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, as well as how these topics relate to health care.
Tillery said the training is unique in that it employs active learning techniques.
“We will challenge trainees to examine their own biases and perceptions about LGBTQ people, and how that affects how we interact with them,” he said, adding that the program will give trainees the tools to continually examine their privilege and how to be a good ally in situations where LGBTQ people are experiencing prejudice and discrimination.
“This is crucial in a healthcare setting because all of us are responsible for delivering the best care for these people, and we cannot do that without advocating for equal and culturally competent treatment,” Tillery said.
Crandall said UNM does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but that many patients still do not feel comfortable sharing this information with their healthcare providers.
When it comes to knowing how to best serve the LGBTQ community, many providers also express discomfort, but this training will provide a platform for students to exercise what it means to be an ally as well as understand why patients often experience discomfort within the system, he said.
“We are hoping to make UNM a safe place for LGBTQ people to turn to for healthcare,” Tillery said.
Research has shown that LGBTQ people who have had negative experiences with healthcare providers and systems are less likely to seek future care and will experience more adverse health outcomes as a result, he said.
“This is something we want UNM to actively work against, and this training is just one way of ensuring that future healthcare providers will be competent and compassionate in treating this population,” Tillery said.
Mayfield said this training positions UNM as a leader in delivering high-quality care to LGBTQ people.
“We are excited to produce a generation of physicians who are able to provide effective, affirming care to all New Mexicans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” he said. “The LGBTQ community faces numerous health disparities, ranging from increased prevalence of hypertension in gay men to lack of cervical cancer screening in lesbians."
Cultural competency training like Safe Zone will make healthcare inclusive of all people, he said, by gradually repairing the damage done to the community by marginalization.
Elizabeth Sanchez is a reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Beth_A_Sanchez.
