Duke’s Physician Assistant Program Embraces the Rainbow
Before starting at Duke’s Physician Assistant Program (DPAP) in August of 2022, I had never seen a health care provider who looked like me. As a pansexual transgender man, I have experienced discrimination from physicians, nurses and health insurance companies. Now, as a PA student, I have the opportunity to share a little piece of my journey into the health care field. In my personal statement, I wrote about how I wanted to be an out PA to help my future patients receive the best care and to see them for who they truly are. In reality, up until the day before orientation at DPAP, I was still undecided whether I felt comfortable being out to my classmates. I was nervous to be out in a southern city, and I was unsure if I would experience harassment on the street or feel shunned in the classroom.
Thankfully, I have felt supported and accepted at DPAP and in Durham beyond what I could have imagined. I am extremely grateful to attend DPAP because the program has been more than just tolerant of my identities -- I also feel loved and nourished.
I was nervous going into the first physical exam of the Patient Assessment and Counseling course, where students don a patient gown and take turns performing physical exam techniques on classmates. I did not know if my new classmates would gawk at the large scars on my chest or if men in my class would not want to partner with me if they knew I was not straight. Before removing our gowns to let classmates practice exam skills, instructors sat us down to discuss how classmates and future patients may not be comfortable with someone inspecting, palpating, or auscultating their skin.
Then we learned about the “shirt as skin” rule. This is where any garments under a student’s gown are to be considered skin. This meant if I did not feel comfortable revealing my bare chest to my classmates, I could opt to wear a tank top under my gown which would be treated as skin for purposes of the physical exam. Additionally, there were pronoun pins on the table, which almost every student took and pinned to their white coats. This experience made me feel so safe and welcome that I took off my tank top after only one week of classes. For the rest of the semester, I allowed my classmates to practice physical exam skills on my bare chest, scars and all. Sometimes all it takes is a small but intentional gesture, like pronoun pins or gender-neutral restrooms, to make students feel welcomed and respected.
Even outside of the DPAP building, I continued to feel seen and revered for my LGBTQ+ identities. Within Duke University Hospital, I feel comfortable wearing my pronoun and progress flag pins on my white coat. Durham hosts a plethora of pride flags throughout the year, in addition to having the city-wide Pride festival on Duke’s East Campus every September. The city’s triple-A baseball team, the Durham Bulls, even hosts a Pride night every June to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Durham is truly a wonderful place to be out. DPAP has been a springboard to launch me into a career caring for diverse patients, while making me feel loved and essential. Happy Pride!
Leo Phillips (he/him/his)
Class of 2024
Leo Phillips is a first-year student with the Duke Physician Assistant Program. Email leo.phillips@duke.edu with questions.
Editor’s note: Duke Physician Assistant Program students blog monthly. Blogs represent the opinion of the author, not the Duke Physician Assistant Program, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, or Duke University.
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