“Many people assume that you are straight, so every time you begin a new rotation, residency or job you have to decide whether to come out all over again.”

(Photo/iStock)

By Sarah Nightingale

Making a new professional connection, career advice, and those reassuring words “You can do this.”

These are just a few of the things Peter Cleary, a first-year medical student at Keck School of Medicine of USC, has received from his mentor, Justin Rice, MD, MPH, during video chats over the past few months.

They have been texting and meeting virtually over the FaceTime app since October as part of a mentorship program created by MedLambda, a student-led organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and genderqueer students, faculty, and staff on USC’s Health Sciences Campus (HSC).

Justin Rice

Cleary drove cross-country from Chicago to Los Angeles in August to embark on his medical education at USC. With no in-person orientation, classes or social gatherings, the mentorship program has given him support during an otherwise isolating time. It’s also helped him get an early start on exploring his career. His current interests are serving LGBTQ+ patients, particularly during adolescence—a time that can be particularly challenging for sexual minorities.

“Dr. Rice is a great role model, and I am so appreciative of this mentorship opportunity through MedLambda, especially during the pandemic,” Cleary said.

The physician-student program isn’t the only mentorship opportunity coordinated by MedLambda. The group recently teamed up with the USC student organization Queers in Engineering Science and Technology (QuEST) to pair LGBQT+ medical students with pre-medical students. Other activities support visibility of the LGBTQ+ community at the HSC, including the creation and publishing of the ‘OUTList,’ a directory of faculty, residents, staff, and students who are making themselves visible to help current and future students feel supported, and distributing LGBTQ+ pride stickers that can be placed on university identification badges as a sign of solidarity with LGBTQ+ patients, faculty, students and staff. 

Peter Cleary

“Our focus this year has been on making the LGBTQ+ community more visible and accepted so that USC is a welcoming place for prospective students and patients,” said Ivonne Verduzco, a second-year medical student and co-president of MedLambda. “A lot of students in medical school and other professional degree programs are not out, but if they see other people who are proud to be out they might feel more comfortable.”

Rice, a hospitalist and clinical assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics, said building an awareness of minority communities on campus is key to helping students see themselves in their desired profession. He said this is particularly challenging for members of the LGBTQ+ community who have to come out on a daily basis.

“Many people assume that you are straight, so every time you begin a new rotation, residency or job you have to decide whether to come out all over again,” Rice said. “I’ve had multiple patients ask me if I have a wife, and each time I have to feel out the situation and determine whether being upfront is going to compromise my occupation or personal safety.”

Rice said he joined the mentorship program to help others who might get caught off guard in such situations.

“I’ve been through something that other people are navigating, and I think I can use my experience to help,” he said.