Join us on February 22 for this virtual session
Gender and sex are complicated, and yet are often treated as though they are neat and simple. Oversimplifying these complicated factors often results intersex, trans, non-binary and Two-Spirit people being altogether erased from curriculum in medical education, or being treated as rare exceptions whose health care needs are limited to a few specific fields.
As part of the It Starts With Us series, we will be hosting Dr. Mei-ling Wiedmeyer and Dr. A.J. Lowik, who will share some background learnings that set the stage for an ongoing curriculum audit funded by the UBC Faculty of Medicine Strategic Investment Fund. The audit is assessing ways to better equip future generations of doctors with the language, skills, values, and knowledge to better serve the needs of all patients, especially intersex, trans, non-binary and Two-Spirit patients.
In this virtual session, they will identify some of the important concepts for faculty, staff, tutors, preceptors, and others to understand, and to continue UBC’s leadership in equity-oriented care and education.
Gender and sex are complicated, and yet are often treated as though they are neat and simple
Topic: Let’s Talk About Sex (and Gender)
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm PST
Registration: Pre-registration is required
Please note that the event will be recorded. The recording will be made available on redi.med.ubc.ca
What Will I Learn?
You will learn about the following topics:
- Difference between sex and gender, and how it is relevant to teaching, research, clinical care
- Health inequities facing intersex, trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit people
- How to unpack the assumptions behind cisnormativity
- Tips for intentionally creating space for intersex, trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit people in teaching, research, and clinical care
Speakers
Dr. A.J. Lowik (they/them) is the Gender Equity Advisor with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity. They are a trans scholar and trans health researcher, having earned their PhD from the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Lowik’s work is primarily focused on trans and non-binary people’s reproductive lives, health, decision-making and experiences accessing reproductive health care. They also work at the BC Centre on Substance Use, as a member of Dr. Rod Knight‘s team, on projects concerned with the applicability of alcohol use scales, measurements and guidelines for intersex, trans and non-binary people, and the use of gender- and sex-related variables in alcohol intervention research.
Dr. Lowik is a Board Member with the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada and an Advisory Member on the MindMap, TestNow and Trans Healthcare in BC projects. Dr. Lowik is a renowned expert in trans-inclusion, having worked with researchers, health care and social service organizations, lawyers and policymakers who are interested in trans-inclusive research and praxis, policy and practice, and legal reform.
Dr. Mei-ling Wiedmeyer is a primary care physician for im/migrant families in the Lower Mainland and a family planning provider in Metro Vancouver. She holds positions as the Director of Clinical Practice at the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE) and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Department of Family Practice.
Her areas of research interest include access to sexual and reproductive health care, health impacts of migration, and primary care for migrants.
She is currently part of the community-based research team for the IRIS project at CGSHE, working on evaluating inequities in access to sexual and reproductive health care for im/migrant women in British Columbia, and understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on im/migrants.