RHO In Conversation

On Nov. 24, 2022, Rainbow Health Ontario hosted a free virtual panel exploring current and future challenges in 2SLGBTQ+ health care. Centred around the updated edition of Caring for LGBTQ2S People, the discussion brought together editors and contributors to address gaps in care and systemic disparities affecting 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

More than 100 health-care and social service providers gained insights and practical tools to improve care for 2SLGBTQ+ patients. The webinar featured live Q&A, with questions submitted in advance or via Zoom. ASL interpretation, French translation and closed captioning ensured accessibility for all participants.

Missed it? Watch the full discussion above to learn how providers can better support 2SLGBTQ+ health equity.

Since completing the first 2SLGBTQ+ Enhanced Skills Residency Program with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2011, Dr. Amy Bourns (she/her) has practiced comprehensive primary care as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ team at Sherbourne Health in Toronto, Ontario. Over the past decade, Amy has spear-headed multiple initiatives aimed at expanding the capacity of health care providers in caring for 2SLGBTQ+ patients, including authorship of Sherbourne Health’s Guidelines for Gender-affirming Primary Care with Trans and Non-binary Patients and the adapted interactive online Trans Primary Care Guide. Amy takes an avid interest in medical education, having served as the inaugural faculty lead for 2SLGBTQ+ Health at the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine and currently acting as the university’s program director for the 2SLGBTQ+ Enhances Skills Residency Program, offering family medicine residency graduates the opportunity to develop expertise and foster leadership in 2SLGBTQ+ health.

Zongwe Binesikwe (Sounding Thunderbird Woman) Crystal Hardy (they/she) is a Two-Spirit Anishinaabe nurse practitioner. Zongwe is a PhD candidate in nursing at Queen’s University, with a focus on cultural humility in action using Indigenous autoethnography to explore spiritual self-reflection and using expressive arts to address compassion fatigue. 

Dr. Jordan Goodridge (he/him) is a lecturer with the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and is a family physician working at Sherbourne Health, where he has a focused practice in 2SLGBTQ+ health. He received his MD from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, completed his family medicine training at McMaster University in Hamilton, and did an Enhanced Skills year in HIV primary care through the University of Toronto. He has a strong interest in medical education and currently teaches in the undergraduate medicine program at the University of Toronto, in addition to teaching elective medical students and residents at Sherbourne Health. He is a faculty member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine and stays involved with the postgraduate family medicine residency program, delivering lectures in HIV primary care and sexual health as part of their academic half-day curriculum. He leads seminars in transgender health through Rainbow Health Ontario and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, geared towards health care providers in various stages of training.

Dr. Edward Kucharski (he/him) is a practicing family physician at the Southeast Toronto Family Health Team, chief medical officer at Casey House Hospital. Throughout his career, Ed has focused on health inequities of communities that face barriers to care. He has taught about 2SLGBTQ primary care at various medical schools, centres and conferences. Ed was also a regional primary care lead (Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network, South) for Cancer Care Ontario and the Toronto Central Regional Cancer Program. In 2013, Ed was the recipient of both the Association of Family Health Team’s Bright Lights Award – Improving the Health of the 5% and the University of Toronto’s Department of Family and Community Medicine Excellence in Community Teaching Award. In 2015, Ed was recognized by The Change Foundation as one of Ontario’s 20 Faces of Change for innovative, and patient-centred initiatives to improve cancer screening in 2SLGBTQ, newcomer, and homeless populations. Ed holds his doctorate in medicine from the University of Ottawa and completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Quang Nguyen (he/him) is a clinical lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Nguyen completed his MD degree at the University of Western Ontario and his post-doctoral medical training at the University of Toronto. Dr. Nguyen holds a dual MPH/MBA degree from Johns Hopkins University and has a strong commitment to health equity through community engagement and patient advocacy. As a family physician at Sherbourne Health, Dr. Nguyen specializes in 2SLGBTQ primary care, with a focus on HIV and gay men’s health. Through his lived experience, Dr. Nguyen provides culturally competent and compassionate care to patients who face multiple barriers to health care access, including those who are homeless and underhoused, refugees and immigrants, racialized sexual and gender minorities, and people living with HIV/AIDS. As an educator, Dr. Nguyen enjoys teaching and preparing medical trainees to become future 2SLGBTQ allies and advocates in family medicine.

Dr. Sydney Tam is a queer, trans, Asian, settler, woman, family physician, and emergency room doctor. She has been in practice for over 30 years in Canada and the United States and has seen and overseen many changes in the care of 2SLGBTQ+ adolescents and adults over the decades. She is a lecturer at the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine. Teaching 2SLGBTQ+ competent care and anti-oppressive care to medical students and residents is an intrinsic part of her teaching practice. She has a special interest in anti-oppression, equity, diversity, and inclusion in medicine, and the intersections of the history of medicine and diverse populations. She has been a guest on multiple national television programs, most notably the Oprah Winfrey Show, and has received multiple practice quality awards, including the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association Provider of the Year award.