Keck Medicine of USC launches Gender-Affirming Care Program - EurekAlert

LOS ANGELES — When Bridget, 57, moved from the East Coast to Los Angeles, she sought wellness attraction to support and show her hormone therapy.

She was rapidly disappointed. One supplier admitted they knew thing astir transgender health, and different labeled her transgender presumption arsenic a “medical problem.” 

She past discovered the Keck Medicine of USC Gender-Affirming Care Program and met with Laura Taylor, MD, a Keck Medicine household medicine specializer and aesculapian manager of the program. Taylor has been Bridget’s superior attraction doc ever since.

As Bridget experienced, transgender radical often look barriers to equitable wellness care. According to a 2021 survey from the Center for American Progress, 1 successful 3 transgender adults said they had to thatch their doctors astir transgender wellness to person due care. Nearly one-half reported having antagonistic oregon discriminatory experiences with a wellness attraction provider.

To code the galore wellness attraction disparities faced by transgender individuals, Keck Medicine has launched the Gender-Affirming Care Program to conscionable the broad needs of the transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse community. Services see everything from regular wellness care, specified arsenic preventive crab screenings, yearly checkups and flu shots, to gender-affirming hormone therapy and surgery.  

The programme is comprised of physicians from respective disciplines including household medicine, plastic surgery, gynecology, urology and otolaryngology. Specialists successful voice, occupational and carnal therapy are besides disposable to patients.

A caregiver navigator coordinates attraction with the providers to guarantee patients person seamless specialized treatment. The physicians and programme unit person collectively received much than 600 hours of gender-affirming sensitivity and inclusivity training.

“Our programme brings unneurotic a multidisciplinary radical of physicians crossed specialties to code the specialized needs of this underserved population,” said Taylor. “We’re arrogant to connection a afloat scope of wellness attraction services successful a harmless and supportive environment.”

Another cardinal facet of the Gender-Affirming Care Program is that it was designed with input from the section transgender community.

“Due to historical marginalization of the transgender population, immoderate wrong the assemblage presumption aesculapian providers with distrust,” said Roberto Travieso, MD, surgical manager of the program. “It was important to marque our section assemblage portion of the process arsenic we built the program.”

As portion of its outreach, Keck Medicine partnered with The TransLatin@ Coalition, the largest trans-led nonprofit enactment successful Los Angeles that advocates for the needs of transgender, sex non-conforming and intersex immigrants crossed the country.

This collaboration helps Keck Medicine found a beardown instauration wrong the transgender assemblage and provides ongoing feedback connected however the programme tin champion service patients.

The Gender-Affirming Care Program was successful improvement for respective years, but came to afloat fruition with the accomplishment of Taylor and Travieso to Keck Medicine, respectively successful 2020 and 2021. Taylor is trained successful LGBTQ+ wellness attraction and Travieso is fellowship-trained successful gender-affirming surgery.

The programme leaders anticipation to prosecute and bid much gender-affirming practitioners, physique much intelligence wellness services into attraction and foster further assemblage partnerships.

Meanwhile, for patients similar Bridget, the Gender-Affirming Care Program is simply a gift.

“I americium doing truly good nether Dr. Taylor’s care, and feeling blessed and healthy,” she said.

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For much accusation astir Keck Medicine of USC, delight visit news.KeckMedicine.org.