Keywords

sexual- and gender-minoritized people, LGBTQ, Medical students, Rituals, Health inequalities

Abstract

Among the groups that experience health inequalities in the United States, sexual- and gender-minoritized people figure prominently. Medical practitioners are tasked with alleviating these health inequalities, and it has been suggested that through the education of new physicians, we can decrease these inequalities. This perspective, however, neglects that medical students are social actors and their socialization begins long before medical school. In the present study, I develop a framework for understanding hetero-cisgender rituals that medical students experience and participate in before starting their medical training. I answer three research questions: (1) To what extent do medical students witness hetero-cisgender rituals? (2) How do medical students participate in hetero-cisgender rituals? (3) How do medical students disrupt and deritualize messages of heteronormativity and cisnormativity? Via an analysis of medical student narratives, I develop a hetero-cisgender ritual framework to understand their participation in everyday practices that reproduce heterosexuality and cisgenderism. In their narratives, medical students propose what can be done to improve the experiences of sexual- and gender-minoritized people in medicine. I find that medical students both witness and participate in hetero-cisgender rituals performed by family members, religious communities, and healthcare providers. Medical students that participate in hetero-cisgender rituals observe rituals unfold in silence or assist ritual officiants, but some also officiate rituals. While describing their experiences, medical students suggest opportunities for personal growth and changes in clinical practice that can improve the health and health experiences of sexual- and gender-minoritized people

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Michael Armato, PhD

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Format

PDF

Identifier

DP0029520

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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