Posted on Jan 20, 2023
Transgender people in rural America struggle to find doctors willing or able to provide care
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For Tammy Rainey, finding a health care provider who knows about gender-affirming care has been a challenge in the rural northern Mississippi town where she lives.
As a transgender woman, Rainey needs the hormone estrogen, which allows her to physically transition by developing more feminine features. But when she asked her doctor for an estrogen prescription, he said he couldn't provide that type of care.
"He's generally a good guy and doesn't act prejudiced. He gets my name and pronouns right," said Rainey. "But when I asked him about hormones, he said, 'I just don't feel like I know enough about that. I don't want to get involved in that.'"
So Rainey drives around 170 miles round trip every six months to get a supply of estrogen from a clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, to take home with her.
The obstacles Rainey overcomes to access care illustrate a type of medical inequity that transgender people who live in the rural U.S. often face: a general lack of education about trans-related care among small-town health professionals who might also be reluctant to learn.
As a transgender woman, Rainey needs the hormone estrogen, which allows her to physically transition by developing more feminine features. But when she asked her doctor for an estrogen prescription, he said he couldn't provide that type of care.
"He's generally a good guy and doesn't act prejudiced. He gets my name and pronouns right," said Rainey. "But when I asked him about hormones, he said, 'I just don't feel like I know enough about that. I don't want to get involved in that.'"
So Rainey drives around 170 miles round trip every six months to get a supply of estrogen from a clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, to take home with her.
The obstacles Rainey overcomes to access care illustrate a type of medical inequity that transgender people who live in the rural U.S. often face: a general lack of education about trans-related care among small-town health professionals who might also be reluctant to learn.
Transgender people in rural America struggle to find doctors willing or able to provide care
Posted from cbsnews.com
Transgender
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Stephens hopes to see more medical schools include coursework on trans health care. She also wishes for doctors to treat trans people as they would any other patient.
"Just provide quality health care," she tells the medical students at UAB. "We need health care like everyone else does."
..."Stephens hopes to see more medical schools include coursework on trans health care. She also wishes for doctors to treat trans people as they would any other patient.
"Just provide quality health care," she tells the medical students at UAB. "We need health care like everyone else does."
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Maybe because Doctors are often smart enough to know when you try to fool Mother Nature it usually doesn't end well. They take on huge liability for when things that were physically healthy are being changed just for the sake of change. That is part of the reason Plastic Surgery is expensive.
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MSgt Dale Johnson
SGT (Join to see) Since you didn't add anything it appears you have even less...Good Bye.
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