2SLGBTQ Health In Focus, is a podcast from Rainbow Health Ontario where we talk to experts in the field and share knowledge about health and health care systems and 2SLGBTQ folks.
In Episode 1, our guests lay out the case for standardized inclusion of 2SLGBTQ care in medical education across the country, share more about what is currently going on in medical schools as well as the current opportunities that exist for education and continued learning.
Our podcast was recorded on traditional territories of many Indigenous nations, including:
- Toronto (Tkaronto): Treaty 13 territory. The Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat
- Ottawa (Odawa/Adàwe): Unceded territory of Algonquin Anishnaabeg
- St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador: the ancestral unceded homelands of the Beothuk, and the island of Newfoundland as the ancestral unceded homelands of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk.
We acknowledge these, and any other Nations who care for the land–acknowledged and unacknowledged, recorded and unrecorded. These territories are still home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to record these stories for the people who call these lands home today.
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Guests
Dr. Ness Karsenti (she/they) is one of the founding members of the Canadian Queer Medical Students Association. During her time on the steering committee, she led the creation of the 2SLGBTQ+ Education Program and led the development of the soon-to-be-released recommendations for a national standard for 2SLGBTQ+ education, in collaboration with the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, with the goal of making these recommendations an indisputable part of every medical school curriculum across the country. She is currently an Internal Medicine resident in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Miranda Schreiber (she/her) is a Toronto-based writer, researcher, and advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ health equity. Along with two colleagues, she is the recipient of the 2021 Ontario Federation of Labour Solidarity and Pride award. She has lectured medical residents at the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Dalhousie University, and the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Tehmina Ahmad (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism at the University of Toronto and the Co-Lead of the 2SLGBTQ ThinkTank at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She works as an endocrinologist with a specific focus on women’s health and transgender medicine. She has a strong interest in medical education, and has co-authored “The case for a Canadian standard for 2SLGBTQIA+ medical education” and “Trans health training objectives: A scoping review.”
Dr. Amy Bourns (she/her) – since completing the first 2SLGBTQ Enhanced Skills Residency Program with the University of Toronto in 2011, Amy has practised comprehensive primary care at Sherbourne Health in downtown Toronto. Over the past decade, Amy has spear-headed multiple initiatives aimed at expanding health care provider capacity in caring for 2SLGBTQ patients, including authorship of Sherbourne Health’s Guidelines for Gender-affirming Primary Care with Trans and Non-binary Patients and co-editorship of a medical textbook from U of T Press, Caring for LGBTQ2S patients: A Clinical Guide. Amy is also the program director for the 2SLGBTQ Enhanced Skills Program, offering family medicine residency graduates the opportunity to develop expertise and leadership in 2SLGBTQ health.
Dr. Anna York-Lyon (she/her) is a family physician. She completed an Enhanced Skills Program through the University of Toronto / Sherbourne Health in 2020 to increase competency in 2SLGBTQ+ patient healthcare. Today, she works in Ottawa doing general primary care and is leading efforts to increase trans health competency in the area.
Dr. Jordan Goodridge (he/him) is a lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and a course director at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He works as a family physician with a specific focus on 2SLGBTQ+ Health and HIV primary care. He has a strong interest in medical education, particularly in areas such as sexual health, HIV primary care, and gender-affirming healthcare. In addition, he co-authored the ‘Sexual Health’ chapter in the textbook, “Caring for LGBTQ2S People: A Clinical Guide, Second Edition” (2022).
Resources
Here are links to resources mentioned in this episode:
- Canadian Queer Medical Students
- CQMSA 2SLGBTQ Education Program
- CQMSA Gender Affirming Services Guide
- The case for a Canadian standard for 2SLGBTQIA+ medical education
- Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada CanMEDS 25 Framework
- Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: official response to RHO’s request for an organizational stance on national standardization.
- Sex[M]ed: a sexual health education platform for healthcare practitioners
- Sherbourne Health’s Guidelines for Gender-Affirming Primary Care with Trans and Non-Binary Patients (free download from RHO)
- Caring for LGBTQ2S People: A Clinical Guide, second edition
- Enhanced Skills Program: 2SLGBTQ Health Program at the University of Toronto
- Project ECHO Ontario Mental Health at CAMH and the University of Toronto
- Courses from Rainbow Health Ontario