More Lessons for Health Professionals From a Transgender Patient

Over the past decade, ways of defining self in relation to gender identity and forms of expression have widely expanded. Along with this expansion of identifying language, there has been an increase in medical professionals and clinics specializing in providing gender care. Yet many barriers to providing this care still exist for clinicians-including their comfort with and knowledge about collecting and retaining a patient's demographic information, respecting the name and pronouns a patient goes by, and providing overall ethical care. This article shares one transgender person's numerous health care encounters over 20 years as both a patient and a professional.