Trans and Gender Diverse Community Track

Mini-Symposia

CO17 - Adapting to Healthcare Challenges in Rural West Texas

Co-Presenter(s)

• FP

  Fiona Prabhu, MD

  Associate Professor
  TTUHSC School of Medicine Department of Family & Community Medicine
  TTUHSC School of Medicine

  Nothing to disclose

Presenter(s)

• 

  Kelly Bennett, MD

  Associate Professor
  TTUHSC School of Medicine Department of Family & Community Medicine
  Texas Tech University HSC

  Nothing to disclose

Co-Presenter(s)

• KW

  Kelsey Walker, MD

  1st Year Resident, Family Medicine
  TTUHSC School of Medicine

This will be a roundtable discussion

Abstract
• Summary of discussion topic: Describe the topics and issues to be addressed.
o This roundtable will discuss the range of solutions developed in direct response to the lived challenges of providing care to LGBT individuals in rural areas. Our experiences will serve as the basis for group collaboration and brainstorming around challenges faced by audience members in an open discussion forum.
• Objectives: Describe the goals and/or desired outcomes of the discussion.
o Identify unique barriers to care in rural healthcare settings that are inhospitable to LGBT patients.
o Discuss the ongoing efforts of a team of family medicine physicians working within and outside the system to elicit pro-LGBT change in West Texas communities.
o Share and collaborate best practices for providing care, including overcoming distance, addressing discriminatory administrative policies, implementing EMR modifications to affirm gender identity and sexual preference, training staff in the basics of LGBT-sensitive vocabulary and care, and strengthening LGBT supportive infrastructure.
• Target audience: Identify who the discussion is intended for, or who would be interested.
o This routable discussion is intended for any providers or administrators who are fighting anti-LGBT sentiment in their communities. While we are rural physicians, the issues we face are not exclusive to rural communities. As they say, necessity is the mother of all invention, and conservative rural areas create significant need.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify unique barriers to care in rural healthcare settings that are inhospitable to LGBT patients.
• Discuss the ongoing efforts of a team of family medicine physicians working within and outside the system to elicit pro-LGBT change in West Texas communities.
• Share care practices, including overcoming distance, addressing discriminatory administrative policies, implementing EMR modifications to affirm gender identity, training staff in LGBT-sensitive vocabulary and care, and strengthening LGBT supportive infrastructure.

1. Identify unique barriers to care in rural healthcare settings that are inhospitable to LGBT patients.
2. Discuss the ongoing efforts of a team of family medicine physicians working within and outside the system to elicit pro-LGBT change in West Texas communities.
3. Share care practices, including overcoming distance, addressing discriminatory administrative policies, implementing EMR modifications to affirm gender identity, training staff in LGBT-sensitive vocabulary and care, and strengthening LGBT supportive infrastructure.