Megan Shroder and Nicholas Kuhl are third-year medical students at Vanderbilt School of Medicine and serve as co-presidents of LGBT MD, a student group that educates the greater Vanderbilt medical community on health issues that affect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients and healthcare providers.
Kuhl grew up in a diverse community outside of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but says he didn’t come out as a gay man until he moved to Nashville for his undergraduate studies.
“It was here at Vanderbilt where I really felt like I finally stepped into my own. I grew to love myself while simultaneously cultivated passions for neuroscience, medicine, and the city of Nashville,” he said.
Nashville is also where he met his fiancé, Rich, who was a Vanderbilt medical student and is now a PGY3 resident in pediatrics. The two are proud dads to Bruce, who Kuhl describes as “the most human-like French bulldog.” When they find the time, the two enjoy traveling, cooking, as well as eating their way through the city.
Shroder hails from the Midwest, just outside Cincinnati. While she grew up in a more conservative town, she says her immediate family members were very close and she was very lucky to have their support as she came out as a lesbian. After completing her bachelor’s degree in biological physics and biochemistry at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, she moved to Nashville where her older sister had also relocated. In her free time, she loves to travel with her family and girlfriend. She enjoys golfing, skiing, hiking, and kayaking.
She hasn’t yet been able to adopt a pet, which she identifies as a top priority. “Growing up, my family always had dogs and I’m looking forward to a day when I can rescue a dog of my own,” she said.
Both students have spent valuable time in the Shade Tree Clinic, Vanderbilt’s student-run clinic that provides high quality care to Nashville’s uninsured individuals at no cost. During her first year, Shroder served as a student social worker with a specialty focus on LGBTI-identifying patients and HIV. She has also served as a rural LGBT community liaison. Kuhl currently serves director of the patient health education program at Shade Tree.
Both students have significant academic honors under their belts. Shroder was a recipient of both the McBride Chemistry Scholarship and the R.L. Edwards Scholarship at Miami University, and she served as both a ROSE Student Researcher and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, respectively.
Most recently, Shroder started a medical student volunteering organization called “New Beginnings” with plans to bring medical students onto the pediatric hospital wards to soothe infants withdrawing from various opiates and narcotics.
Kuhl is a Roscoe R. Robinson, M.D. and Ann Robinson Scholar and recently won the distinction of Best Presentation at the Healthy Aging & Quality Dying Symposium for his lecture entitled “Caring for LBGTQI+ Older Adults”.
Kuhl thinks it’s important to be out at work because of the perspective an LGBTQI person can bring to the table.
“In the same way that different races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses positively add to the success of an institution, I feel that diverse gender identities and sexual orientations represent equally important professional perspectives. In addition, since we live in a society that increasingly blurs the distinction between private and professional lives -- particularly with the advent of social media, I feel like it’s important for an individual to feel as comfortable at work as they do in the company of close family or friends.”
Shroder, too, discussed the blurred lines that healthcare providers often face in juggling their personal and professional lives.
“One of the main challenges I have noticed as a LGBT-identifying woman in healthcare has been balancing my life as a professional working with colleagues who know me and as a healthcare provider working with new patients every day. In some professions, being ‘out’ at work involves only telling your bosses and co-workers, but healthcare professionals also interact with a new patient population almost daily. It is sometimes difficult to balance maintaining the privacy I desire regarding my personal life and establishing a trusting relationship with patients. I have not dealt with discrimination from my coworkers or classmates, but I have experienced discrimination in interactions with patients. I would encourage young LGBT students interested in healthcare to reflect on how they react to difficult interactions with anyone in the workplace and to find good mentors to help them through these situations.”
Kuhl said that the rainbow pin he wears on his white coat has invited curious glares from patients. He says he wears this pin, though, to let others know they are welcome. “I feel this pin is more of an outward display of my solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community than a marker of my own sexual orientation.”
Shroder echoes the sentiment of solidarity while highlighting the support she’s received from colleagues. “Coming out or being out in the workplace is scary because of the constant threat of potential rejection or harassment, but I have also found more support and encouragement than I could have imagined. Being out in school has allowed me to be my true self and to help build a more accepting community. I feel more able to speak up for other individuals who were in the same position I was for years, quiet about a specific part of their identity. Being out has allowed me to be more proactive in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”
When asked about their own out role models, both students were quick to cite famed comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres. Shroder said, “Ellen came out in a very public manner during a time period when it was not socially acceptable to be a confident, out queer woman or lesbian. Since coming back into the public eye, she has shown an amazing positive outlook on life and works hard to make other people happy. Ellen is very giving and constantly encourages everyone to ‘be kind to one another.’ “
Kuhl also mentions Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld and Dr. Eli Zimmerman, whom he credits for playing huge roles in his medical education. To pay their assistance forward, Kuhl offers the following advice for incoming students pursuing careers as health professionals:
“In the same way that inspirational LGBTQI health professionals have had an impact on you through the paths they’ve paved, don’t forget that you, too, will have an opportunity to lend a similar helping hand to the LGBTQI community as a young health professional student. Your colorful diversity of experiences puts you in a unique position to advocate on behalf of LGBTQI patients. So, when the going gets tough, remember those patients and imagine the impact you’ll soon be able to impart upon them.”
