CHAPTER OF THE YEAR

Q: Briefly introduce yourself

We are Drew (he/him), Emily (she/her) and Casey (they/them), and we are Co-Presidents of Vanderbilt Pride in Medicine. We generally have 2 Co-Presidents each serving 2 year terms (Drew 2022-2024, Emily 2023-2025, Casey 2024-2026), in addition to an executive board of around 10 students. 

Our organization is dedicated to maintaining an active LGBTQ+ community within our medical school, educating students and faculty on topics in LGBTQ+ healthcare and culture, and advocating for change benefiting LGBTQ+ individuals in our broader community. 

Q: What are you most proud of your chapter accomplishing?

Each year, our organization hosts a “Pride event series” in June, complete with weekly philanthropic, outreach, educational, and social events that are open for all medical and graduate students at Vanderbilt to attend. This year, we were honored to have Olivia Hill, Nashville Metro Councilwoman At-Large and the first trans elected official in Tennessee’s history. In Tennessee, as with other states where identifying with and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community is difficult, it was illuminating and inspiring to have Councilwoman Hill join us and share her journey. We hope to continue inviting and hearing from other important members of our community in the coming years!

Q: What do you feel made your board successful? Do you have any advice for getting involved with your medical school or your local community?

We believe our board has been successful because of our tight-knit community and the way we have built recurring events into our organization.

First, we focus on community building within our medical school. We host welcome events at the start of the year for new M1s, organize social activities, and provide personalized outreach to medical school applicants interested in hearing from our organization. We believe this both gives us a meaningful queer community within our medical school, and helps encourage students to get involved. Our ability to accomplish the work we have (while also doing medical school) is entirely because of our large, collaborative, and motivated board. 

We also have a number of recurring events and projects that are passed down from year to year. For instance a mentorship program we run, our applicant outreach, and an educational session we host during the pediatrics clerkship occur annually in more or less the same way. Incorporating sustainable projects in addition to one-off events has allowed us to grow our activities without the workload becoming unmanageable. 

Q: How did you balance advocacy and medical school?

We try to be intentional in situating our advocacy into the broader context of our educational and professional development. Advocacy is a learned skill. Similar to the basic sciences and clinical skills we learn during medical school that will serve as a foundation for residency and beyond, this period of our training is also our opportunity to acquire the tools and experience needed to engage in advocacy in our future career. As such, we find it valuable to look for ways our advocacy enriches other aspects of our education and development, and vice versa, rather than viewing them as opposing demands.

However, it can certainly be challenging at times. Like anything else in medical school, time management, prioritization, and setting realistic goals is important. We are fortunate to have so many wonderful, talented individuals in Pride in Medicine, and we find a lot of strength in each other. When one of us is on a busy clinical rotation or has an exam coming up and may need to momentarily step back, others in the organization are always there to step up. No one does this work alone! Finally, when competing demands on our time seem overwhelming, we find it helpful to reflect on why we do this work. Attending medical school in Tennessee, a state at the forefront of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation, is a poignant reminder of how important and necessary this work is--for ourselves, our community, and our future patients. 

Q: What would your goals for your local chapter be? What would your goals for MSPA be?

We have each been fortunate to work with Pride in Medicine for several years, during which time the organization has grown in membership, expanded outreach efforts, and implemented more programming. Moving forward, we would like to see Pride in Medicine continue to grow with more faculty and housestaff involvement, connect with more local LGBTQ+ organizations, and (perhaps most difficult) receive more institutional funding to support all of our initiatives. As a nationwide organization, MSPA provides access to far more resources than we have at the chapter level. I would love for MSPA to leverage these connections and enlist experts in LGBTQ+ health to provide training sessions and curricular elements that medical student could opt into regarding LGBTQ+ health.

Q: How do you see LGBTQ+ advocacy continuing to be part of your career?

Drew: I’ve become very involved in other research projects here at Vanderbilt related to LGBTQ+ mental health care, including qualitative research on medical simulation, community organization partnerships, and LGBTQ+ health care provision for youths. I am clinically interested in psychiatry and am motivated to work with LGBTQ+ populations with mental health challenges, leveraging my experiences at Vanderbilt with Pride in Medicine to provide affirming mental health care. I will also continue to perform LGBTQ+ mental health research as I progress through my training with the goal of improving education and outreach efforts for future medical professionals.

Casey: I’ve been very involved with both medical education research and curricular development efforts, especially with regards to LGBTQ+ health, here at Vanderbilt. I am passionate about re-imagining what inclusive, effective, learner- and patient-centered medical education looks like, and hope to continue work in this space throughout my career. While my clinical and research interests as a future physician-scientist aren’t in fields traditionally known for a focus on LGBTQ+ health, I strongly believe LGBTQ+ health is important to all specialties. LGBTQ+ patients need physicians in every field, and I look forward to advocating for LGBTQ+ competent health care in areas where it has perhaps not been conventionally emphasized as I progress through my training and career. 

Emily: I am applying into ob-gyn this year, which I believe is a field with abundant opportunities to address and improve LGBTQ+ health. From the inclusivity of the language we use, to lower rates of preventative gynecologic care among queer and trans patients, there are so many ways to marry LGBTQ+ advocacy and ob-gyn. While I do not know exactly what my ultimate role in this will look like, I am excited to keep learning and keep trying to improve access and care for my community.