Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

ECs, Med School...and Homosexuality


booty911

Recommended Posts

Hey people,

 

Just a quick one. If someone were to apply to medical school, would the admissions committee consider me differently than other applicants if they saw on your ECs part of the application that you were a member of a gay society at university?

 

Does being gay hinder one's chances at medical school?:(

 

 

Thanks,

booty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey,

I honestly don't think 99% of people on the various adcom committees would even blink an eye at anything like that. If they are slightly anti-gay then they could easily dismiss it as "oh he/she is a great candidate so they probably just joined to seem diverse" and that is only the 1% (if that- i've seen no indications whatsoever out East of it being an issue at all) that are slightly "old school", and i think they have been successfully weeded out so I wouldn't worry one bit.;)

 

If ever you got even the slightest vibe during the interview that it was an issue then post-interview I would arrange a meeting. But that also applies to women and minorities- these things are non-issues in terms of your ability to practice medicine so are /should be non-issues to admissions. If you are bit older then it isn't necessarily ageism if they ask a couple of questions about how that would affect things, just because they are valid concerns if you returning to school after many years away- but it shouldn't be a major issue.

 

Good luck everyone,

Scooter:o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, it is kind of a pro...since you may be better able to serve the gay-lesbian-bi-transgendered community.

They won`t ask questions about your sexual orientation in the interview.

And just because you are a member of a group, doesn't actually mean you follow any one of those sexual orientations.

I guess whether or not you chose to bring it up yourself in the interview is up to you. But you won`t be asked directly about it....well they might ask you about the group and what your involvement was...but they won`t ask you specifics about your sex life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My girlfriend told me this story about what happened to her classmate:

 

A female patient walks in the ER and female med student A is asked by her attending to talk to the patient first.

 

After a brief conversation, the patient says to student A, "I don't care what you have to do, but I want a female doctor to come in and see me." Student A acknowledged the patient's request.

 

A long time later... Student A walks in with a male doctor. Of course, the patient freaks out. "I thought I told you I want a female doc!!!"

 

Student A all of a sudden realized that she forgot the patient's request and was just about to apologize when the patient held out her hand and signalled student A to shut up. (imagine "talk to the hand cuz the face don't wanna hear it")

 

Patient then starts checking out the male doc up and down, and up and down again. Patient then asks, "Are you gay?"

 

Doc say in a proud and confidence manner, "Well...Yes of course I am!"

 

Patient says with a happy and enthusiastic tone, "I knew it! Well, that's ok then. By the way, I love your shoes, where did you get them??"

 

Student A leaves the exam room silently....

 

Now, just like everyone else said, I'm sure sexual orientation is a non-factor in gaining acceptance into medicine. I hope the above story builds your confidence even more!

 

Best of luck with your application.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

this is months too late ... but just in case someone searched the forums ...

 

Hey,

 

The answer is no. There are many gay medical students, residents and staff in London and the rest of Canada.

Being gay will play no role in how you are evaluated by medical school admissions committees, just as race and gender plays no role as well.

 

i think it's very easy to say that because that's what on paper it says. however, you have to take into account hidden biases. if you're a weaker applicant like me (eg. with a lower gpa), then i wouldn't take the chance of having someone's subconscious bias affect my application.

 

it's an issue of pride in yourself vs how badly you want to get in. i chose the latter, hence why i "straightened out" my application. i was very proud of my thesis work and the places that i volunteered, but i also wanted to become a doctor ;)

 

on a side note, the second day of med school, i was sitting by a classmate. and we were talking about how day one of o-week was. and he ended pointing to someone and saying, "what a fag" ... i felt so incredibly uncomfortable at that moment. and another time, we had a lecturer tell an inappropriate joke in front of the class where the punchline was "two sluts and a fag". they had no problems using the word, and i'm sure that they knew exactly how that word was commonly used (ie. not the original "bundle of sticks" meaning). yet if they were to be confronted with a gay person, i'm 100% confident that they would be friendly. i question though their hidden biases -- what if they are the ones sitting on the adcoms?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...