Diversity of UBC Med Students

[leviathan]

Haha. If it were the case, I wonder how they'd be able to verify one's sexual orientation.

 

If that was the case, the mentality of premeds would not surprise me if 90% of the applicant pool suddenly became gay.

[funkmunk]

As for the quote by Xylem below...

Why would they take this into account?

 

Everyone values diversity but I don't think schools actively try to make their classes diverse, you're not going to get extra points for being homosexual. It says it on their website, they do not take into consideration your race, sexual orientation, religion, etc....

 

This quote seems to lack compassion. I'm not sure if the original person was asking if he/she would "get extra points for being homosexual". It seems to me that you may be missing the bigger picture. Have you had the self-realization that you are homosexual? Better yet, have you ever tried to communicate this to people, or deliberated over who you could trust with the information and who you couldn't trust, but then later either kicked yourself because you shouldn't have trusted them, or kicked yourself because you should have? In a society that still does not give equal rights to this particular minority group, the process of coming out is one in which the individual faces much adversity, perhaps even from his/her parents.

 

It is not simply who/what the person is/identifies with, but what the person has experienced in life that is of interest.

 

Anyway, I guess the tangent that this entire thread has gone on basically answers the original question... my guess is that, aside from the general population in Vancouver, the class is relatively homogeneous regarding sexual orientation.

[meme me]

I don't think xylem was intentionally lacking compassion... part of the original question was does the admissions committee consider sexual orientation, and the answer is no. Could've been stated perhaps, with a little more eloquence, but he/she did answer the little picture part of the question.

[whoithinkyouare]

Try again.

 

NO.

 

 

[UVICKID12]

Who cares. Next thread please.

[JAdlCruz]

I guess this is more of a question for current med school students, but how diverse is the UBC Med student body in terms of sexual orientation? Also, how heteronormative do things tend to be (professors, admin, classes in general)?

 

Also, it seems as though the admissions process takes into consideration diversity of experience, but does it account for diversity of sexual orientation at all? Anyone with any insights, I'd love to hear from you.

 

There are GLBTQ students and professors in UBC Med. There is also an established mentorship group for GLBTQ students who wish to join it. Heteronormativity is challenged in some lectures, and many of us (students) want to become sensitive practitioners.

 

As for your question about "diversity of experience" - my understanding of the criteria is that it refers to the different kinds of work/non-academic experiences that you have and that it also looks at the populations that you may have worked with. While being gay probably does not fit this criteria, having had concrete and committed advocacy experience in the gay community will probably be more in line with it.

[Fast_Layne]

On 11/15/2008 at 1:59 PM, meme me said:

I think referring to a homosexual as queer is pretty offensive.

Not anymore!! The LGBTQ+ community has reclaimed this

[PlantZaddy]

I think OP you can tell by the tone of this post is that there are quite a few people in the class (and applicants by this standard), that should be called out for their heteronormativity and comments/remarks that are made.
 

From a current student’s perspective: The profs are pretty heteronormative and binary in their approach to teaching. A student-run queer mentorship group does exist, but it’s a lot of white queer folks and there isn’t a dedicated physician mentor that lead it (unlike the other mentorship groups). There aren’t really many queer Black, Indigenous, or people of colour in the program. The faculty has not acknowledged Pride month or many queer things, it really ‘leaves that up to the students’. There aren’t many queer lecturers or staff.
 

BUT there are some lecturers that do a better job of being inclusive to the spectrum of gender and sexual orientation. Unfortunately this gets diluted out by the problematic and cisgender approach to teaching medicine. 

[ellorie]

Well this whole thread sure is a blast from the past (and my adolescent coming out experiences).  Kinda sad to hear that 12 years hasn't improved all that much - except that I think it's been a long time since anyone actually called anyone a homosexual.  Happy Pride.

[Fast_Layne]

2 hours ago, ellorie said:

Well this whole thread sure is a blast from the past (and my adolescent coming out experiences).  Kinda sad to hear that 12 years hasn't improved all that much - except that I think it's been a long time since anyone actually called anyone a homosexual.  Happy Pride.

Hey, do you really think there hasn't been a change in these 12 years? I was under the impression that UBC has been a lot more accepting of LGBTQ+ folk, not just the students, but the faculty and administration as well. Even just being aware of the right (and wrong) language to use is sooo important for us LGBTQ+ folk to feel included and accepted.

[Fast_Layne]

10 hours ago, PlantZaddy said:

From a current student’s perspective: The profs are pretty heteronormative and binary in their approach to teaching. A student-run queer mentorship group does exist and there isn’t a dedicated physician mentor that lead it (unlike the other mentorship groups). There aren’t really many queer Black, Indigenous, or people of colour in the program. The faculty has not acknowledged Pride month or many queer things, it really ‘leaves that up to the students’.

Yeah, as an incoming PoC and LGBTQ+ individual, I find that really disappointing to hear  If the mentorship group doesn't even have a physician mentor, what do they do exactly?

[ellorie]

58 minutes ago, Fast_Layne said:

Hey, do you really think there hasn't been a change in these 12 years? I was under the impression that UBC has been a lot more accepting of LGBTQ+ folk, not just the students, but the faculty and administration as well. Even just being aware of the right (and wrong) language to use is sooo important for us LGBTQ+ folk to feel included and accepted.

Oh I don't know, I don't go to UBC - I was just reacting to @PlantZaddy's post.

[PlantZaddy]

3 hours ago, ellorie said:

Oh I don't know, I don't go to UBC - I was just reacting to @PlantZaddy's post.

Looking at earlier posts on this thread, I feel you can see the calibre of inclusivity amongst students and current applicants – some folks that get it because they are queer people and fight to be represented, and others that don’t know their own privilege and speak from uninformed platforms of being cis-hetero individuals (which becomes infuriating). I would hope some folks unlearn harmful behaviours and language before they enter medicine, but also learn through an intersectional lens of understanding Indigenous issues, race issues, queer issues and other barriers and disparities in healthcare. The sad part of all of this is that the newer (younger) Faculty Leads are trying to change how queer, two-spirit, trans and non-binary inclusive medicine is taught, but their work is erased by other “distinguished” faculty that continue to teach archaic rhetoric. 

4 hours ago, Fast_Layne said:

Yeah, as an incoming PoC and LGBTQ+ individual, I find that really disappointing to hear  If the mentorship group doesn't even have a physician mentor, what do they do exactly?

The students host events that invite Faculty to attend. There hasn’t been a dedicated Faculty or community mentor for a bit, to my understanding, but the mentors that do show up are willing and able to support queer students. But it almost feels as we are hiding in the shadows, as the Faculty of Medicine does very little to support these efforts publicly and not in a performative manner. There isn’t anyone who identifies as a queer person of colour on the Admin or Board that is really championing these efforts. 

[NothingButNetters]

..

Edited January 20, 2023 by NothingButNetters

[Fast_Layne]

38 minutes ago, NothingButNetters said:

Since this was posted in 2008, I guess in the last 12 years there’s been some progress. It’s still not a safe space. LSC got it’s first (and only) gender neutral bathroom only 2 years ago. The anatomy change rooms are still binary and offer little to no privacy. I agree that the LGBTQ2S+ mentorship group is largely white queer individuals and does little to start dialogue about what it means to be queer in medicine.

The Sexual Medicine theme lead had to come in to give an explanation about ethics and discrimination to the class as to why a student in a CBL group was not correct to say they could ‘pass off a transgender patient to a colleague because they would not feel morally right to treat them as their doctor’. A medical student communicated these transphobic sentiments to their case-based learning group. It should be reiterated that everyone is protected from discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, regardless of their gender identity, expression, or sexual orientation. No one should feel threatened by trans and non-binary individuals, especially by their physicians as their patients. Even in the United States, laws were being pushed forward that would prevent trans youth from accessing necessary and live-saving medical care. 
 

Homophobia and transphobia is still pervasive in medicine and being pushed forward into the new generation of physicians. 

That's really disappointing to hear  

Just curious, did the student in question mean they personally would pass off a transgender patient to a colleague? Or were they just misinformed in thinking that the law/hospital policy would allow for a doctor to do such a thing if they wanted? If it was the former, is there some sort of consequence or remediation system in place for these kinds of situations?

Also, what are the anatomy change rooms for? Can you like go change in your car or something instead

[rmorelan]

5 hours ago, Fast_Layne said:

That's really disappointing to hear  

Just curious, did the student in question mean they personally would pass off a transgender patient to a colleague? Or were they just misinformed in thinking that the law/hospital policy would allow for a doctor to do such a thing if they wanted? If it was the former, is there some sort of consequence or remediation system in place for these kinds of situations?

Also, what are the anatomy change rooms for? Can you like go change in your car or something instead

I will just mention why the last part in particular is a problem - if you are going to human anatomy rooms taught in the traditional manner you don't want to be walking around trying to find a place to change after (before I suppose it is possible ignoring for the moment that it shouldn't be set up so that is necessary). Some things can be messy no matter how careful you are. So yeah this is an area where a school should have a good solution setup. 

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by rmorelan