“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.”
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. Midwestern'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+ Midwestern University 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 Midwestern University 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.
