So I’ve discussed being out as a blogger on residency apps , so now it’s time for the harder (but more important and wide-reaching) subject: Being Out, Coming Out–whatever you want to call it–as an LGBT person on residency applications.

I don’t really talk much about my personal life on this blog–I think mainly because where I go hiking on the weekends or who I go grab a drink with wouldn’t really interest anyone, and doesn’t have much to do with the theme of this blog: becoming a doctor, thoughts on health policy–that kind of thing. But this doesn’t get talked about a whole lot–hell, gay anything doesn’t get talked about much anywhere in the world of medicine–but it should, so here we go (sorry, it requires some history):

As a gay man man who happens to be gay, it hasn’t always been an easy road in medical school. Overall, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be at a medical school in the San Francisco Bay Area that is overwhelmingly gay-friendly–with Out gay, lesbian, and even transgendered faculty even. My classmates have truly been amazing in their embracing of me (it probably helps that I’m kind of awesome, too). I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m incredibly excited for my generation of physicians, if they’re anything like my classmates.

I decided to just be “the gay classmate” from Day One–none of that “coming out” stuff that can be awkward and uncomfortable. I’ve always preferred to just drop the hint than have to come right out and say “Oh, I’m gay.” I’d much prefer to mention my ex, and then use the pronoun he , or one of many other such schemes I have previously concocted. Easier for me that way, and I find it to be less direct and confrontational. I don’t have something to prove, or some vendetta or anything. I yam what I yam.

The residents I worked with were, for the most part, great too. I wasn’t out to most of them–rarely did it come up or have any import–but when it did everyone was very accepting (as they should be). I’m not what people might call “gay-acting” (translation: what you see in the media as gay stereotypes), but I’m always surprised when someone assumes I’m straight (’cause it’s so darn obvious to me that I’m not), which a few residents did. The one incident that sticks out in my head was a surgery resident–otherwise good guy–who called his intern who felt bad for a patient “so fucking gay,” as a put-down. Lost a lot of respect for the guy right then and there. My esprit d’escalier reminds me that I should have spoken up or said something, but I didn’t.

So for the most part, I’ve always felt like I’ve just been able to be me during medical school, and I decided that’s how I was going to continue to be on my residency application. Being gay is certainly part of me, but it’s not the only part of me. I decided to include it in my application. I was the LGBT-Meds president for a year (2004-2005, baby!), so there it went on my app. (It ended up being pretty buried in my application, as achievements and extra-curriculars are listed reverse
chronologically, and I didn’t really have anything else to say about it, so that was the only place it was on my application.)

My perspective was and continues to be this: I am going to be a great doctor. I’m smart, I work hard, I’m positive and I play well with others. If a residency program wants to drop me in their rank list because the fact that I’m gay somehow overrides all those other things? Their loss.

So applied to 13 places. And got 13 interviews.

The fact that I’m gay barely came up on the interview trail–in fact, less than the blogging did . I’m not sure if this was because people were uncomfortable (didn’t seem like it), they didn’t want to get in trouble for a rules violation (possible), or just didn’t see it on my application (also possible). A gay residency director (I think the only out one in Emergency Medicine) did talk with me about it briefly, saying it was strong of me to put it on my application. I think one resident did mention that Chicago is gay-friendly, and he has a few gay friends, which was a really nice way to both a) let me know he read my application and b) let me know that he and the program were gay-friendly.

So how did things turn out? 8/10 programs where I interviewed contacted me saying I was a great candidate–whatever that’s worth–so I’d say being gay certainly didn’t hurt my application (not trying to brag to make people feel bad, just trying to give some data to future LGBT applicants). If anything, it certainly makes me stand out as a unique candidate as well.

It’s hard to say how things would have gone had I applied in another specialty or at other programs. There’s certainly a selection bias at work here: I only really applied to major urban areas (LA, SF, Chicago, New York, Boston) for my training, which are by default more open and gay-friendly. If I was applying to more rural schools, I’ll admit I don’t know if I would have put it on my application. It also helped that I knew I had a strong application, with good board scores, evaluations, research, teaching experience, extra-curriculars, and letters of recommendation–this made it easier for me to apply to these major urban areas and still feel like I’d have a chance of matching at one of them.

I don’t know what I’d say about other specialties, really. Emergency Medicine types in my experience are usually pretty laid back, fun people who’ve seen it all, and really care more about doing a good job and being efficient than much else–so I really didn’t anticipate it being much of an issue. I have no idea about other specialties, besides that fact that I know LGBT people in many specialties–including the surgical ones–but again, they’re all in the Bay Area, too. It seemed to me like the Psychiatrists, Internists, and Pediatricians were the most gay-friendly on my rotations overall, but I’ve talked with general surgeons who have told me about their gay general surgeon friends, too. There’s a pretty outdated survey on the AMSA website about LGBT-friendliness for specialties and residency programs, if that helps anyone… I’d love to hear other people’s opinions.

I hope this helps someone!

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