FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Sue Rochman
Communications Director
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
415-255-4547, ext. 309

Having Gay Friends Improves Medical Students' Attitudes on Homosexuality Study Recommends Greater Inclusion of Homosexuality in Medical Curriculum

SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 20, 1997) -- Knowing someone who is gay or lesbian and having knowledge about homosexuality can improve medical students' attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, reports a study published in the current issue of the Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

"Medical Student Attitudes on Homosexuality and Implications for Health Care" reports the results of a survey of 127 first- and second-year medical students who enrolled in an elective human sexuality course at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Nearly 86 percent (109) of the students said they had a gay or lesbian acquaintance, and 78.9 percent of these students received a "high" ranking on questions testing their knowledge of homosexuality. In contrast, only nine of the 18 students who did not have a gay or lesbian friend scored highly on these questions.

The study evaluated students' attitudes toward gay men and lesbians by asking questions such as whether they would be willing to care for homosexual patients and families; if they thought it was important that physicians understand the special medical and social problems that face gay men and women; and whether they believed homosexuals and heterosexuals deserve the same quality of medical care.

"The students who have gay friends know more about gay issues, and this appears to have a positive effect on their attitudes," said Cynthia G. Olsen, MD, an associate professor at Wright State University, who co-authored the study with Barbara L. Mann, PhD. "This study confirms that the more information students have about gay men and lesbians, the more likely they are to have a positive attitude toward homosexuality."

Despite significant gains by lesbians and gays over the past decade, discrimination against gay and lesbian physicians and patients remains widespread. GLMA's 1994 Anti-Gay Discrimination in Medicine: Results of a National Survey of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Patients found that when a patient's sexual orientation is made known, gay and lesbian patients run a serious risk of encountering discrimination by medical professionals. In fact, 52 percent of the physicians surveyed said they observed a colleague provide reduced care or deny care to a patient because of her or his sexual orientation.

To counteract the homophobia that is commonplace in the medical profession, Olsen and Mann recommend that medical schools review their educational curriculum for negative and prejudicial attitudes and false information about homosexuality; require that students take human sexuality courses; support openly gay or lesbian students and teachers; make students aware of professional medical organizations like the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, and adopt policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"Gay and lesbian patients are entitled to expect the same quality of health care as heterosexual patients," said GLMA board member and JGLMA co-editor Mark Townsend, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Louisiana State University Medical School in New Orleans. "Medical schools should see it as their responsibility to ensure that their students graduate with the knowledge they need to care for all of their patients. If they choose to, medical schools can be at the forefront in changing attitudes about homosexuality in the medical profession. The question is whether administrators are willing to accept that challenge."

The Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, launched in March 1997, is the world's first peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered health. Specializing in original clinical research, JGLMA is published quarterly by the San Francisco-based GLMA. ###

The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association is an organization of nearly 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered physicians, medical students, and their supporters in all 50 states and 12 countries. Founded in 1981, GLMA works to combat homophobia within the medical profession and in society at large and to promote quality health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered patients.

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