By Eli Pendleton, MD; Susan Sawning, MSSW, and Stacie Steinbock, MEd
My male-to-female transgender patient is in her mid-50s. She has a well-established relationship with a sex therapist, who has written a thorough letter of explanation and support. Her wife is engaged and supports her decisions. The patient comes to me hoping to begin her hormonal transition.
By Katherine Bakke, BA, Halley P. Crissman, BSc, MPH, Vijay Singh, MD, MPH, MS, and Arno K. Kumagai, MD, University of Michigan
Given their primary responsibility for the health and safety of their patients, physicians are the natural candidates to champion efforts to end intimate partner violence (IPV).1 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in three women and one in four men report lifetime physical assault by an intimate partner, and IPV represents a leading cause of morbidity and mortality of women in this country.2 Medical education stands to play a key role in this area; however, with recent changes in the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) standards, the next generation of physicians may be even less likely to initiate conversations about IPV with their patients.
The LCME, which accredits all US and Canadian medical schools based on compliance with specific educational standards, recently announced reformatted standards that will come into effect after July 2015.3 Although perhaps not intended, the changes include a small but significant omission. In contrast to previous versions,4 the 2015 standards dropped violence and abuse as an example of a societal problem that should be covered in medical school curricula.5 While this omission may seem trivial, it is potentially of great consequence, for the risk of not educating medical students how to screen for, and assist survivors of, interpersonal violence threatens to perpetuate IPV as a significant, and more importantly preventable, cause of injury and death among women.
Jhonatan Munoz
Espinoza, MD
During remediation it’s easy to think what you are doing is insignificant and that your efforts are not taking you anywhere—you are not part of a residency track, not part of the interviews tours, and not able to moonlight—but you’re wrong.
If your program put you in remediation it doesn’t mean that they are discounting you. Your program is recognizing that you need time to address whatever is going on in your life that put you in remediation—relationship stresses, mental health issues, or poor academic performance—to be the best person you can be.
Remember: you are valuable, your work still matters, and most importantly, your patients are waiting for you to be the best version of yourself!
STFM Blog 