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Talking about sexual orientation in my PS? Any thoughts appreciated!


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Okay, so I know that sexual orientation can be a touchy subject to bring up. However, one of the biggest influences I had to pursue a career in medicine was the lack of culturally competent healthcare that I had growing up. It is pretty common for LGBT people to feel uncomfortable talking to their doctors about certain things, which I definitely have personal experience with. I wanted to become a PA in order to help be the solution to that problem.

 

I am not trying to use being gay as my sob story, but my being gay was a big influence on why I wanted to become a provider. Additionally, my health care experience is mostly working in the LGBT community, and almost all of my patient care experience is working directly with HIV patients. I hope to eventually work in primary, with an emphasis in treating HIV-positive and LGBT patients.

 

Since these things are such huge parts of my experiences up until now, will it be a problem to include my sexual orientation in my personal statement?

 

I read this article once about job applications, and it makes me worried:

 

"It’s illegal to consider factors like age, race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability status in hiring decisions. So hiring authorities prefer to not “officially” know whether you’re a member of one of these protected classes. If you put a photo on your resume, you reveal some of these details. If the employer later interviews you but doesn’t hire you, it opens the possibility of a discrimination claim. Some companies will even flat-out reject resumes with photos, just to avoid that potential accusation."

 

All opinions would be appreciated!

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Up to you. Could be really compelling, could be a risk. Either way -- do you really want to attend a program that dumps your PS because you DO include info about your sexual orientation? If it played a big role in your decision to become a PA, write about it!

I was kind of thinking the same thing... I think that's a good point. I hope adcoms see it the same way. Thanks!

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The point of the personal statement is to tell a story about yourself and your journey into medicine so if that has had a major impact on your journey into medicine and if you plan on continuing to include it in your future journey, then I don't see any reason to leave it out. It's similar to someone that explains that they have a passion for helping the underserved because they grew up in an underserved area. Yeah sexuality is heavily stigmatized and honestly, you might get a rejection or two just from old, traditional folks who don't want to "rock the boat" but I would hope that adcoms are intelligent enough to realize that your sexual orientation in no way affects your ability to be a good provider. That being said, I would mention it and how it has shaped your desire to pursue medicine and how you plan to continue work in that area but I wouldn't make it the focal point. Be sure to mention the other qualities that make you who you are and other qualities that would make you a good provider. Keep in mind that your application is a package, they will see everything you include in the Experiences section at the same time they are reading your personal statement. They will see the many hours you put into working with LGBT patients and that alone will give a pretty good idea of your passion so just don't overkill it in your personal statement.

 

 Good Luck!

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