“Taking care of the queer community is second nature for me because it's my community, but it has played a large role in my path to becoming a preventive medicine physician.â€
How has your experience working with the LGBTQ+ community shaped you into the physician you are today?
Taking care of the queer community is second nature for me because it's my community, but it has played a large role in my path to becoming a preventive medicine physician. I'm about to start coursework for my Masters of Public Health, and I plan to write my masters thesis on barriers to broader uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. ³ûÄñÊÓƵ's connections to Cook County Health and Dr. Wesley Cook gave me lots of experience working with patients living with HIV.
What advice would you give to current LGBTQ+ ³ûÄñÊÓƵ students?
The advice I would give would be to take advantage of our connection with Cook County and the patient population that is served by it as a large public healthcare institution. Seek out opportunities to work with patients living with HIV; volunteer with institutions like Howard Brown Health, the Center on Halsted, and the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago; and most importantly support each other.
During your time as a student, what was your role on the PRIDE Club, and how did being a part of the club enhance your ³ûÄñÊÓƵ experience?
I was Treasurer of PRIDE during my second year. I'd like to think I made an impact by finding a pin maker based in Milwaukee that made rainbow caduceus pins to sell for fundraising; until my year we had sold generic rainbow ribbon pins, and I know the classes after me took the liberty to branch out to other themed pins to maximize fundraising each year.
How can MWU continue to support the LGBTQ+ community and students within it?
Maintain connections with Cook County Health and Dr. Wesley Cook, look into establishing an agreement with Weiss Memorial Hospital so students interested in gender-affirming care might rotate with their Gender Affirming surgery service, and make more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.
