{"id":9766,"date":"2023-10-30T10:56:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T05:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/meet-penn-medicines-first-ever-medical-director-for-lgbtqia-health\/"},"modified":"2023-10-30T10:56:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T05:26:32","slug":"meet-penn-medicines-first-ever-medical-director-for-lgbtqia-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/meet-penn-medicines-first-ever-medical-director-for-lgbtqia-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Penn Medicine’s first ever medical director for LGBTQIA+ health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Penn Medicine has a new medical director for LGBTQIA+ health. The appointment is aimed at improving care and access.<\/p>\n

This newly created role highlights Penn’s focus on decreasing health disparities that exist in the LGBTQIA+ community.<\/p>\n

“They aren’t getting the preventative care they need,” Dr. Kevin Kline said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Kline is the first-ever medical director for LGBTQIA+ health at Penn Medicine, where he’s also a professor.<\/p>\n

“One of the main things is to help us expand access to care and quality of care,” he said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Kline said many LGBTQIA+ patients in addition to traditional health needs have some unique situations that many doctors aren’t trained for.<\/p>\n

“This is just an area where we’ve lacked education historically so people often avoid providing care in this area because they’re afraid of doing harm,” he said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Kline, who also treats patients, said some LGBTQIA+ patients avoid care because of discrimination they’ve faced in some health settings.<\/p>\n

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CBS News Philadelphia<\/p>\n

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“LGBTQ people have previously and historically been ignored, stigmatized and sometimes even harmed by health systems,” Gennady Vulakh said.<\/p>\n

Vulakh, a second-year medical student, applauds Penn for naming an LGBTQIA+ medical director.<\/p>\n

“We definitely get a lot more specific curriculum about how to be more sensitive in the community,” Vulakh said.<\/p>\n

In his classes, Dr. Kline helps train future doctors about things like gender-affirming care and the use of prep medications to prevent HIV transmission.<\/p>\n

He also discusses the importance of seeing people beyond stereotypes and not making assumptions. Life lessons important for everyone and respecting how people want to be identified including thinking about language.<\/p>\n

“It’s ‘Are you married?’ and not ‘Do you have a husband?'” Vulakh said.<\/p>\n

There are currently no standardized guidelines for LGBTQIA+ health care.<\/p>\n

That’s something Dr. Kline is now working to create.<\/p>\n

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