UCLA medical student group makes strides in LGBTQ health care

Doctor’s appointments made Josh Khalili feel uncomfortable at times. When he mentioned he identified as gay, the doctor would ask him if he had been tested for HIV.

These experiences motivated Khalili, now a second-year medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine, to look for ways to create change in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community with regard to health care.

“I always wanted to join a LGBT group,” Khalili said. “I come from a conservative family.”

He is currently president of the Medical Gay and Lesbian Organization, known as MedGLO.

The student group was established at the David Geffen School of Medicine in the 1990s and aims to promote and improve LGBTQ healthcare both within and outside the UCLA community, Khalili said. Boston University and USC also have MedGLO chapters.

The main issues with LGBTQ health are finding gay-friendly providers who are inclusive and use appropriate terminology, said Dr. Allison Diamant, the faculty advisor for MedGLO since 1999. For instance, she said doctors could ask the patient which pronoun they prefer to be addressed with, as a way to make the patient more comfortable.

“Medicine is a lot more conservative compared to other fields,” Khalili said. “The number of people who are out is not enough.”

MedGLO started out mainly as a social gathering, when being gay was not easy for a medical student, she said.

Michael Haymer, a second-year medical student and co-president of MedGlo, said the organization’s mission has developed to emphasize communal mentorship, policy changes and education in LGBTQ health care.

MedGLO members have gradually started getting involved in improving LGBTQ care at its most basic level beginning with patient-doctor interaction, she said. The group has hosted more outreach programs and joint events with groups such as the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association that deal with regional issues.

Unlike many student groups on campus, MedGLO does not have regular meetings or set member rosters, Khalili said. Individual members meet to share their research and collaborate to organize events.

Haymer said he joined the organization because he wanted to help people in the LGBTQ community.

“I had just gotten out of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship,” said Haymer, who identifies as gay. “I saw MedGLO as a way to change intimate partner violence,” he said.

UCLA has become a leader in LGBTQ health issues over the years, Khalili said.

The UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine has, in recent years, started teaching its students how to provide primary care for LGBTQ patients.

This year, the UCLA Health System passed policy changes like employment non-discrimination to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” and patient non-discrimination policy to include “sexual orientation.”

UCLA, through MedGLO’s efforts, collaborated with USC and Western University earlier this month to co-host “Forward Together,” a health symposium for LGBTQ and allied students. The event was also co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

“It is important to bring people together to focus on LGBTQ health, as it is being accessed more these days,” said Abbe Land, one of the speakers at the symposium and CEO of The Trevor Project, a leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to the LGBT community.

Khalili said that medical schools nationwide should change their curriculum to teach their students how to offer care to members of the LGBTQ community.

Haymer said in the near future, MedGLO hopes to form a formal mentorship program about LGBTQ-related health issues for undergraduate students.

Looking back on his experience with MedGLO, Khalili said it has been rewarding to see a small, passionate group bring about change – both for him personally and within the larger community.

“MedGLO has helped me grow as a person and as a medical student,” Khalili said.