Tell me a little about your background. A thought question for some direction: What identities do you occupy, and how do these identities influence your interaction with the world? 

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My name is Ben, I’m a gay 25-year-old cis-gendered white man.

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I’m still playing with how I choose to present myself, but I am quite obviously gay and I feel the most comfortable that way.

However, I have the privilege of blending in if I want to. This really allows me to see multiple pockets of society. It’s advantageous to me, and I think it will play an interesting role in how I support my peers who are underrepresented in medicine.  

 

A key point in this project is the process of “othering”—a sociological phenomenon that is perpetuated by the majority group, enhancing feelings of difference among minority individuals. What is your experience with this, if any. How about within the medical space (with school, research, etc.)?

 

As I was writing my personal statement to medical school, I had only been out of the closet for about a year. I was still understanding what it meant to occupy general society as a gay man. It had no implication in my role as a medical student or physician yet.

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During my senior year and in my gap year I had time to explore what being queer meant to me. I found what in the community connected to me, and by the time I started school my sexuality was a much larger part of my identity. I had begun presenting myself more obviously as queer too.

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Entering medical school, I started to realize I wasn’t as comfortable in predominantly cis-het spaces as I’d thought. Meeting many of my classmates I felt immediately different. Although I’ve found my niche within the class, I still feel unnecessarily self-conscious about my label in many spaces. I’m back to worrying that straight men will think I’m flirting with them, or that people secretly view me as “other”.

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Some days this feels like an emotional burden, but other days I feel empowered to be so “different” from the rest of my class – taking up space and making space for others like me.

 

Can you imagine a future where students of minority identities can thrive and are supported, especially by our institutions? What does this look like?  

 

The optimist in me wants to say yes. I think we’ve come too far to revert, so we can ideally only move up from here. This won’t happen quickly, as much as I wish it would. We are slowly increasing the representation of minority identities in medicine, which is progress.

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However, representation does not mean support. Medical institutions are not yet ready to commit the energy and money required to spearhead this effort. Joining medicine is such a financial burden, and the best way to bring in more students is to remove that burden.

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I think that minority identities will only truly be supported when they make up more of the teams in charge. This is going to take some time, but its possible.  

 

What does it mean for you to occupy this space as a medical student—in SKMC and beyond? 

 

I mentioned this earlier, but when working to get into medical school, I had not yet integrated my identity as a future physician with my identity as a gay man. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time to be a gay physician.

Having been training for 2 years, it means so much more to me now. I realized when organizing the schools first ever LGBTQ+ mentorship program that there really aren’t many openly queer doctors- it almost ruined the project. I suddenly remembered how often I was the only LGBTQ+ person in a room or in a group. It freaked me out, because for a moment it amplified these feelings of “other” that I wasn’t used to. Now, I’ve rechanneled that realization towards pride. Pride that I’m part of the growing community of queer doctors.

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This means a lot for me in my dream to work in pediatrics. The community of young, LGBTQIA+ individuals is growing rapidly. Having a doctor that’s gay will provide a safe space to talk about the unique health concerns of the LGBTQIA+ community.

I’d also like to be living proof that you can be LGBTQ+ and do anything. That being in a professional career does not have to repress how we express our queer identity.

 

Finally, I’d like to leave space for celebration of yourself and others— feel free to share any affirmations/last thoughts here. 

 

I’m really excited for this current wave of future physicians. All social change takes time, and progress is subtle. Everyone I’ve met so far on my medical school journey is so driven and inspiring. I can’t wait to see how we flip healthcare upside-down and make the changes everyone is waiting for.