Kate O’Hanlan
UCSF will soon host the nation’s first conference for graduate health students on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health concerns.
On Feb. 27 and 28, more than 150 students from most of California’s graduate health schools will gather at UCSF for a groundbreaking LGBT health forum.
“LGBT patients face real health risks and disparities,” notes Shane Snowdon, director of the UCSF LGBT Resource Center, the forum’s lead sponsor. “And UCSF is perfectly poised to help future health professionals provide them with sensitive and knowledgeable care.”
The conference, originally designed by members of the UCSF LGBT Student Association as a UCSF winter elective, grew into a statewide conference after students at other schools asked to attend. Says UCSF School of Pharmacy student Thomas Yi, co-chair of the LGBT Student Association, “We wanted to be sure to give them an opportunity to learn from the educators we’ve lined up, who are some of the nation’s leading experts on LGBT health.”
Snowdon helped secure funding from Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights and the California Endowment to expand the elective into a statewide conference. The forum has also received support from the UCSF Chancellor’s Endowment Fund.
UCSF School of Medicine student Mitchell Luu, LGBT Student Association co-chair, notes that conference registrations will be accepted through Friday, Feb. 20, space permitting. “We want this to be a truly interprofessional event – and all students are very welcome to attend, whether they happen to be LGBT or not.”
Snowdon, who has been an LGBT health educator and advocate for more than a decade, describes the LGBT health forum as “a dream come true.” She adds, “We hope this event at UCSF will be a national model – and we’ll be disseminating the content around the world.”
UCSF School of Nursing student Mats Christiansen, LGBT Student Association co-chair, hails from Sweden. He is excited about the precedent the forum will set: “One of the reasons I came to UCSF was its involvement in LGBT health – and this is a great example.”
The forum’s opening speaker will be Kate O’Hanlan, MD, former president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. The forum also will feature workshops on a variety of LGBT health topics, as well as a panel of LGBT patients describing their health care experiences. Registration is free for health students, with all meals provided.
Members of the UCSF community who cannot attend the forum will have a chance to learn more about LGBT health soon afterward. During National LGBT Health Awareness Week in early March, several forum speakers will return to UCSF for lunchtime talks to be presented on the Parnassus campus by the LGBT Resource Center.
“LGBT health is truly on the map now,” Snowdon notes. “It’s something that future health professionals really care about.”
Related Links:
UCSF LGBTI Health Forum
UCSF LGBT Resource Center
