Choice of doctors

[Robbyv213]

Good morning everyone. I hope everyone is doing well.

I will be trying to set up my primary care doctor soon and see what they can do or offer in terms of trans/gender affirming care. I am not sure how to ask this since I'm sure it could come off as offensive to some. And if a doctor is a good one it should not matter how they identify in terms of their own gender and sexuality.

My question is based on everyone's experience so far. Do you find you received better care, feel more welcomed, and understood, felt more relaxed with a male doctor or female doctor?

I feel I would lean more towards a female doctor. I don't know why. I feel a female would be more understanding and compassionate and empathize more than a male doctor. That's just me, I don't have any proof or evidence or experience on it.

Granted everyone should be given a chance and if they don't meet my needs then I can always switch to another doctor.

Just wanted to hear everyone's opinion on this subject. Thank you and I am sorry if I have offended anyone.

[LoriDee]

Pre-transition I had a male Primary who was very good. He moved to a new position at a local hospital and a female MD took over his practice. She was very good in that she seemed to understand my concerns almost intuitively. The psychologist who did my mental health evaluation was male, but again he was very understanding and professional.

Once I started care with the VA, my Primary, Psychologists, Endocrinologist, Dermatologist, and Gynecologist are all female. I don't know if the VA did that intentionally, or if it was luck of the draw. I have found I prefer female physicians because they understand things like hot flashes due to low hormones. A male physician knows about these things but has not experienced them. That in no way diminishes their abilities, but as I transition to female, I am blessed to have a team that has experienced my symptoms and can accurately understand what I am experiencing.

That is just my personal preference. Others may feel differently.

[Devlyn]

I didn't have a preference so I let the clinic assign me a doctor. They gave me a female physician. For surgery she referred me to a male (Dr Oates).

[Maid Marion]

I've usually had female doctors all my life, except for a short period when I first moved to Connecticut.  I recently had a female doctor who listed LGBTQ on her web site but she moved back to Michigan a few years ago.

My present female doctor is quite sharp.  She spotted stuff that I didn't think of, like a vitamin D deficiency during the winter.
I now take vitamin D supplements for six weeks during the middle of winter.

[Robbyv213]

Thank you for all your inputs and sharing your personal experience.

[Jessica_K]

Here in the UK, GP's are useless for anything transgender orientated. "We are not trained to administer hormones or to evaluate bloods" so will not do either. The fact they administer hormones to cis women and know exactly what good hormone blood levels are in cis women says it all.

I have a female GP that I choose thinking from her CV would good, but she is just like all the rest.

I hope in your country or state GP's are better than here.

Jessica xxx

[Sarah B]

Hi Everyone

I have had only 5 doctors since I changed my life around, 3 have been male doctors and 2 have been female.  Only two male doctors, did not really know about my 'medical condition', however all my doctors have treated me very well.

I have had other doctors, but they were for only one or two visits, when my normal doctor was not available, or I had an emergency, that needed quick attention.  In which case they did not know about my 'medical condition'.

I currently have a female doctor that knows of my medical condition (I let her see my surgery letter) and is well versed in that area. I'm also very comfortable in going to her.  I have always been comfortable with the doctors that I have seen and I stay with the one doctor over a long period of time.

My original doctor, who treated me for 17 years, is the only doctor, who wanted to see downstairs after my surgery and I had no problem in doing so.  I'm more comfortable or inclined to see a female doctor when it comes to anything downstairs, not that situation has risen.  Except for the examination by the gynaecologist that I saw recently and gave me a clean bill of health in that department after 33 years and of course female technicians who do my breast examination.

So, like I did just recently in finding a new doctor, my criteria was that one was a GP, two used informed consent, and three was 'gender' aware.  I would suggest that those who are looking for a new doctor in the future, should use the above criteria that I listed as much as possible.

So to answer your question male or female doctor, it does not matter, except I prefer female doctors when it comes to female problems.

All the best for the future and of course stay healthy.

Love and Hugs
Sarah B
Official Greeter
 @Robbyv213

[SoupSarah]

I have built in prejudices like everyone else.. . I, however, understand that like in people in general, doctors are not about what they look or sound like. So I take each one at face value, hope for the best and continue to use them if they show they are good at what they do. To this end, a young Spanish female doctor saved my life 15 years ago, a middle aged Iranian surgeon removed a huge brain tumour from my head without killing me, a young Asian guy proved to be the most amazing endocrinologist I have ever met and an Ethiopian refugee, was my overnight nurse in hospital recovering from surgery who just went above and beyond to ease my pain..

Stereotypes are best avoided when dealing with your health..

[SoupSarah]

Here in the UK, GP's are useless for anything transgender orientated. "We are not trained to administer hormones or to evaluate bloods" so will not do either. The fact they administer hormones to cis women and know exactly what good hormone blood levels are in cis women says it all.

I have a female GP that I choose thinking from her CV would good, but she is just like all the rest.

I hope in your country or state GP's are better than here.

Jessica xxx

My GP in the UK was amazing.. not totally accepting, we had a LONG conversation about his views on transgender people and their rights and he stated he would 'Never administer drugs of any kind to a child to ease gender dysphoria'. However for me, he was supportive and wrote of my prescriptions without a murmur, liaised with the private hospital and surgeon who did my surgery and was supportive on my post-op recovery.

I am sorry Jessica if you have a bad one.. but you know what, you can change your GP really easy.. I did not just happen to have this guy as a GP.. I had that transgender conversation BEFORE I joined his surgery.. The NHS has a lot of problems. It has some very bad wait times for gender surgery and gender confirmative care on the whole, but it does exist and it is accessesable to ALL.. in the USA you need insurance, that costs money and in most cases it is a lot of money. If you are working a dead end job, no insurance the chances of you even getting hormones are zero.. The chances of you being able to afford your consultations are zero.

I chose to pay for my surgery, I wanted it faster than the NHS could muster it up.. a friend of mine, however went the NHS route, did the GHC and the years of wait.. she had her surgery 3 months before me in the same hospital, with the same surgeon, with the same level of service.. it cost, on the door, nothing to them and close to £20,000 for me. The only difference was 3 or 4 years. WHilst that is too long, it being available to everyone is still something to be proud of and demands to make the NHS better are all called for - But classing it all as 'useless' or worse the people that work hard in this service as 'useless' is harsh