Med School Orientation

Packing up and moving 3000 or so miles across the country is at the same time exciting and immensely tiring. After a few days of driving back and forth between Ikea, my apartment, OfficeMax, Mattress World, Ikea, Walmart, my parents' hotel, my apartment, Ikea, etc., we finally got settled in my new home with all the stuff I need. Well, that this is now "home" is a strange idea that I'm still getting used to, and I actually forgot a lot of the stuff I need. For example, today was the first day of orientation where lunch was not included. Originally I intended on packing a sandwich for lunch (either peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese, which I bought the previous day at Giant Eagle, the local supermarket chain that is indeed very giant, but unfortunately lacks any eagles), but I then realized that I had no sandwich bags or tupperware to pack it in, so I just ate the sandwich instead. Yum.

Today's orientation session was relatively pointless. The topic was about sexual orientation, and how we as future healthcare providers need to be aware of the increasingly diverse gender identities of the patient population. One interesting figure that the speaker pointed out was the statistic CNN.com gave for percentage of the American adolescent population that identifies as LGBT: 1-21%. I can only imagine how large the error bars on that graph are...

And, the clicker questions that were asked today following our guest speaker were a bit pointless and poorly worded. After a session in which the speaker described gender not as a simple distinction between male/female but rather as a broad spectrum spanning the two extremes, the questions seemed intent on portraying LGBT issues as black/white issues. For example: Sexual preference is biologically determined (yes, no, unsure); Sexual preference is a conscious decision (yes, no, unsure); and Sexual preference is influenced by society (yes, no, unsure). Seriously? That is relevant to the discussion of how sexual orientation and gender issues will affect our becoming good clinicians?

There was one gem in the midst of the questions though: What percentage of men who have sex with me tell their medical provider about their sexual preferences? That made me laugh.

Oh, and of course there was discussion of the inequality with which LGBT individuals are treated by society. For example, in Pennsylvania, it is perfectly legal to put up signs that say "Cashier wanted. Gays need not apply," or to discriminate in housing (not allowing gay couples to lease a 1 BR apartment). There was also a bit of allusion to the issue of marriage. The speaker told a story that reminded me of an article I saw in the NYTimes about how a person was kept from a dying partner's bedside because they was not legally married. I also felt slightly ashamed to be from a state that voted down gay rights. Oh well.