She will lead a discussion about “everything you won’t learn in medical school about abortion and contraception”, followed by a hands-on workshop learning what the abortion procedure is by doing it on a papaya.

• Tuesday, Feb 14^th, Classroom 1B at 12 pm
• Health and Sexuality In the Caribbean
• Speakers: Dr. Ramotse Saunders, Dr. Tanya Zangaglia, Marvelle Maloney MS2, sponsored by Family Medicine Club

All Downstate students get to work with the Caribbean community served by Kings County. But how do you approach a Caribbean patient about their personal and intimacy issues? Not sure? Well, come on Valentine’s Day, during free hour, to listen to a panel of members of the Caribbean community, to find out!

• Tuesday, Feb 14^th, Student Center Main Lounge at 4:30 pm
• Rape Crisis Counseling and the SAFE Exam
• Speakers: Barbara Schnoor, RN, CNM, NYSAFE and David Saphier
• sponsored by Emergency Medicine/Wilderness Medicine Club

Barbara Schnoor RN, CNM, NYSAFE  has worked as a midwife in various settings in NYC and NJ since graduating in 1979 from SUNY-Downstate’s midwifery program.  For the last nine years she has been a SAFE (sexual assault forensic examiner) with the Crime Victims Treatment Center of St.Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan, where she is the SAFE Clinical Manager. Her talk will focus on compassionate medical care for victims of sexual assault seen in the emergency department, as well as the NYS-DOH SAFE program.

• Wednesday, Feb 15^th, Faculty Lounge 8^th fl HSEB at 12 pm
• Exploring Paraphilias
• Speaker: Dr. Meg Kaplan

• sponsored by Psychiatry Club

Dr. Meg Kaplan will speak about paraphilias. What are they? How can we as medical professionals treat patients with paraphilias respectfully and appropriately?

• Thursday, Feb 16^th, Student Center Main Lounge at 12 pm
• Towards Gender Equality in Medicine: 50 Years of Experience, Struggle and Vision
• Speaker: Michael Wilson, MA
• sponsored by AMSA

A lot has changed since women came into medicine in the 1960s, and a lot has stayed the same.  Join healthcare professionals and students of both genders for a candid lunchtime conversation about victories, defeats, and the possibility of gender equality in medicine.  The conversation will begin with stories from your colleague’s lives and then open into a discussion facilitated by community-based theatre artist Michael Wilson. Your voice is needed.

Friday, Feb 17^th, Lecture Hall 1A at 12 pm
Improving Transgender Healthcare
Speaker: Nathan Levitt, RN
sponsored by LGBT club

Transgender people face many barriers within healthcare, including discrimination, ignorance and fear. The lack of informed care, sensitive language, research and education prevents access to competent care and screening. This workshop will explore ways to improve transgender health education in schools with curriculum ideas and case studies, as well as ways to integrate transgender informed health care in hospitals, health centers and social service organizations. As the “T” often gets grouped in with the “LGB” without necessary understanding and resources,

We are looking for stories, long or short, about your experience with gender in medical, allied health and public health fields.

No matter who you are or where you came from, whether you are cisgender, transgender, male, female, or anything in between, you’ve all had experiences worth sharing, and we want to hear about it.

Here’s a few questions to ponder as you prepare to send us your stories:

When was the first time that you were aware of your gender at school or in your work in healthcare?

When were you proud of being your gender when you were at work or school in healthcare?

When have you faced barriers in the medical system because of your gender, if at all?  How have you addressed them?

Stories will be posted here, on our website. Stories will also be used in our event in February.

To submit stories: email to robin(dot)brehm(at)gmail(dot)com, or simply comment on this post. If you would like to remain anonymous, please let us know.

Events throughout the week. Scroll over selected dates on event calendar.

We kick off this year’s events with a frank discussion of sex and medicine.  As future health care professionals, we will likely be presented with a wide range of challenging questions from our patients.

Can an HPV infection really be cleared?  Is it safe for a patient’s partner to swallow the secretions or ejaculations of a patient on powerful chemotherapeutic drugs?  When is sexual activity contraindicated?  Is sexual function preserved in patients with quadriplegia or with other neurological injury?   Does washing the genitals before and/or after sexual activity increase or decrease transmission of STIs?

At this Q&A session, our panel of physician experts will field all of your clinical questions about sex.    What are some of your burning questions?  What will your future patients need to know?

Presenters: Q&A Panel Guest Speakers

	Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus, LMSW, MPH, PhDFounder and Clinical Director of the Medical Center for Female Sexuality
	Dr. Richard Sadovsky, MDAssociate Professor Family Medicine SUNY-Downstate Medical Center
	Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh, MD Director of the Division of Urology at Maimonides Medical Center Associate Professor of Urology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University

Sponsors: Psychiatry Club

Chris Noel will be sharing his personal insights and experiences with sexuality as a person living with a spinal cord injury.  By sharing his story, he will shed light on some of the stereotypes and prejudice that are so often cast upon the sexuality of people with disabilities.  Chris will also be speaking to his work with Independence Care System (ICS), a nonprofit organization committed to assisting people with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in community life.  They serve as a model of integrated health care and social supports based on collaboration between consumers, providers and care coordinators.

Presenter:  Chris Noel, Outreach Manager, Independence Care System NYC

Sponsors:  SALUD