Trans Med Student Facing Discrimination.

Hi my name is rey.

I am a transgender medical student entering my 2nd year of an MD program with the goal of becoming a surgeon. Throughout my 11 years working in healthcare, I have provided care for low to no income vulnerable populations domestically and internationally. I am in need of urgent financial support to complete my education.

Due to an administrative mishandling of a medical emergency, I’m now required to pay for a semester I was not permitted to attend. The administration refused to provide reasonable accommodations for a recognized disability and treated an incident of incapacitation as grounds for an ableist investigation into my character. They then expressed an opinion that a testosterone prescription caused my disability. I am not presently taking testosterone, nor was I taking testosterone at the time.

Further, they claimed the assumed testosterone made me a danger to others. I was suspended from school for a year for confronting ableism. The administration ignored letters from my physician and I was not allowed to withdraw. Officially, I’m still in good standing with the school. They will not allow me to transfer or apply to any other school without paying them.

In order to complete my program, my school has given me a bill of $13,684.22 to be made on or before July 31, 2023. At this moment a payment plan or extension is not available.

The discrimination and bias at my school has resulted in a year-long suspension and a permanent disciplinary mark. In order to continue seeking justice from the school, I’m told I must continue enrollment at the school.

I have no familial support. Moreover, I’ve been given short notice to pay the school. Given these two circumstances, I am now seeking personal loans and donations. Alternatively, I am seeking a cosigner for private student loans.

Trans people routinely struggle to access healthcare. Some professionals refuse to treat us while others practice without a functional understanding of our bodies. The world needs many more doctors who are not only willing to treat trans people but also able to provide us with competent care. Your donation will allow me to become one of those doctors.

This wrongful suspension has disqualified me from federal aid. In my first year of medical school, I worked full-time as an RN for a Telehealth company, so I was able to pay for the cost of tuition. When my employer’s company was acquired, my position was eliminated.

I have overcome a history of housing and food insecurity to pursue a career as a physician. This background fuels a dedication to healing others who may fall through similar cracks. This history of adversity left me with bad credit which disqualifies me from private student loans.

I spent all of my savings and resources on legal representation, first to try transferring to another school with no disciplinary mark and then to just release the hold on my records. The school will not release my transcripts to me unless pay them for the year which I was neither permitted to attend to withdraw from.

So, I am essentially being forced to return to the same school to complete my medical education. Despite the antisemitic and transphobic comments I've faced as the only trans person. and the only Jewish person at the school, I know that I can continue succeeding in my studies.

Healthcare for trans people rarely meets an acceptable standard. Stigma results in insufficient care. With the waitlist for many trans affirming surgeries exceeding 5 years, I sincerely hope to be one of the first trans surgeons to help us through this difficult time.