Guest Tim Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Hi there I have some interviews coming up and lets say I'm not your "Typical" applicant, infact I'm a gay male Do you think I should disclose this at the Interviews or not? I wrote about it in my bio and I have done alot of work with HIV/AIDS education in the gay pop. I also have 3 first author pubs immunology/Hiv during my Bsc. I have already had my interview at UofT and the topic did not come up. I actually did not bring it up since the student interviewer made kind of a disgusted face when I was talking about my HIV volunteering experience. I suspect that is the type of attitude they will have when they treat HIV patients but oh well what can you do! Any advice would be appreciated, Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bc guy Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 No, I personally do not think it is a good idea to disclose, and it should not be an issue. But.......since you do not know the interviewers play it save and not mention it. After you are in you can do whatever you like to further the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Hmm. . . REALLY interesting question. We have one openly gay student in our class (could be more, I don't really go around asking people about it), and I don't think it's an issue for anyone - him, the rest of the class, the administration, or the interview committee that interviewed him. Also, medical schools in general are really sensitive about discrimination issues - so officially this SHOULDN'T affect your status at all. On the other hand, I'd be lying if I didn't say biases didn't still exist someplaces. . . (unfortunately.) At Western and Queen's, you're interviewed by 3 people: a faculty member, a student, and a member of the community-at-large (I think it's similar for other schools but have no personal experience.) Walking into that interview, you really have no idea where those 3 people's biases are (especially the member of the-community-at-large. . . one of my interviewers was from a generation where being gay wasn't socially acceptable. . . not sure how she would have reacted to this issue) and your accepatance to medical school is fairly dependent on their evaluation. It's totally up to you - this is something that could work in your favour (especially with all your experience with HIV education and research!,) make no difference at all, or possibly have a negative impact (the risk is probably slight, but unfortunately there.) If I were you, I wouldn't bring it up. I wouldn't deny it if you were asked (though I think that would be against regulations) but it really should be (if not is) a non-issue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest question Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 hi tim, interesting question. with regards to the "disgusted face" by the interviewer when you talked about your HIV research at your UT interview, are you sure he was disgusted? is it possible that you mis-interpreted the situation? i guess i don't understand why anyone would do so, or care to do so. i would be even more surprised if they treated HIV patients in such a way. one additional question: why would anyone bring up their sexual preference during an interview? signed, very confused about your post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest heyheyhey Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 I think your a little paranoid to think that people may look down on your sexual preference. I would hate to think that the medical schools have admitted bigoted people on the addmissions commitee. I dont think it would be I good idea to come in and say " Hey I'm Gay", it would be like me coming in and saying " Hey I Like Blondes", they should and probably would reply....who cares. Obviously your sexual preference shouldnt impair you administration of medicine. If it does come up, make sure you tell them this point. Your sexual preference just like your age or race has no effect on the quality of doctor you would be. Also, I dont think that you are a unusual applicant, I have seen people so far out of the closet they are in montreal in medical school. Hope that helps. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tim Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Hi there Thank alot for the input. To address some things: I would not walk in the interview and say hey my name is tim and i am gay , however certain questions ie biggest failure in your life or most stressful moment faced, overcoming adversity etc. could be answered truthfully and honestly by relating situations regarding my sexual orientation. But again I dont want to bring stuff up that may create biases against me. I did mention that I was gay in some of the autobio submissions as I was trying to relate experiences and challenges in my life that led me to the decision to practice medicine ie Mac's submission. (on a side note I was also selected at Mac for an interview). However I have heard that there is alot of bias in the selection process and perhaps finding experiences involving other aspects of my life to discuss during the interviews would be more appropriate Its really a shame that such biases exists because one of the biggest problems facing HIV patients is the inability to find Family docs who will deal with them and are knowledged regarding the specific issues they face. Many HIV people I have worked with have told me they have to travel over 3 hours to see a Doctor who deals with HIV related illnesses, and these HIV patients live in Toronto! Perhaps this is a function of the prejudice that is inherent in the selection process. Maybe the cookie cutter approach where everyone should fit a particular mold is not the right model. The inherent selection bias has most likely led to large groups of the population not receiving access to good health care as the Med students admitted are the typical Big city dwellers who locate and specialize within their own demographic and socioeconomic status group, essentially serving patients who fit a similar profile to themselves. this I guess becomes an issue when all of the students selected fit the same mold of socioeconomic and culture group..... Who knows that was me just rambling possible theories, in all honesty I have no idea what the selection process is like but I may play it safe and keep things low key. BTW UWOMEDS I was just wondering, does the openly gay guy in your class get harrassed alot or are people pretty cool about it. I think as a whole med students are probably more mature and open to different people but I was just curious. Finally to answer someone's question regarding the interview at UofT the student was digusted because I was talking about how some of the volunteering I did involved counselling people with HIV. These people contracted the virus through their sexual practices and were now suffering with a host of immune def illnesses. When I talked about visiting these patients at home and talking with them about the illness the student interviewer was horrified and said "you actually have to go to these people's house, how gross!" Yes maybe they made mistakes and look ill but they are not monsters and really need people to care for them. Oh well hopefully the new 60:40 ratio at UofT will help the school select people who are more caring rather than simply marks oriented. Thanks again to eveybody I appreciate it! Anymore thoughts are welcome Now off to listen to some more village people songs.....just kidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gucio93 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Hi Tim! Just wanted to let you know that at Mac the non-discrimination against sexual orientation is actually written into the Human Rights statement and is stressed during training sessions for interviewers. Also, we too have an openly gay person in our class and that person fits in great (as if there was any reason they shouldn't ?!) and it really is a non-issue. However, going back to one of the previous comments, even though this is how things are, if you have an older community-member on the committee they may have their own thoughts and in the end how are you going to prove that it was in fact your sexual preference that they objected to? I say play it by ear and if you feel comfortable and the interview has the right feel and you think it would back up a certain point you make it, then bring it up. Otherwise I would probably be a bit cautious. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 I have seen ZERO harassment directed to any of my classmate, gay or otherwise. That kind of thing is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable. So don't stress about it - as gucio93 said, play it by ear - but remember, unfortunately if you don't get in and it is for this reason (highly unlikely, in my opinion) you really won't ever know if that was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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