QueerEM

QueerEM was founded in 2021 and serves as the Department of Emergency Medicine LGBTQ+ affinity and mentoring group. It is a place for LGBTQ+ faculty, residents, fellows, students, and staff to build community and provide mentoring. We have several meetings throughout the year not only within the department but involving the wider GME and School of Medicine community as well. Our mission is to maintain an inclusive and equitable environment for LGBTQ+ physicians, enhance queer culture, and provide education to our peers about best practices in the care of LGBTQ+ patients. Events are open to everyone in the department, including allies and significant others.

Annual events include:

• Social events including participation in local LGBTQ+ focused charity events
• GME-wide LGBTQ+ Mixer
• Queer movie night (outdoors in the fall)
• The Reading Rainbow (our annual book club)
• The LGBTQBBQ Medical Student Outreach Event
• Participation in the Indy Pride Parade
• Organization of LGBTQ+ focused lectures and curriculum for the EM residency

"As an openly gay man in medicine, it was a bit intimidating coming to a state that seemed a little ambiguous with how open the closet doors are for queer people. I haven't been here long but in the few months of my intern year, the feeling of support is real. The door is wide open. While many components make me feel supported and welcome here at IU, QueerEM has been the most influential. QueerEM is a space for friends to come together through social gatherings. It’s a place to grow as a professional by learning about and advocating for LGBTQ+ health. It’s an organized way to stay connected with the plethora of administrative teams in our institution. We coordinated a department-wide invitation to the Indy Pride Parade that even our department chair, Dr. Peter Pang, marched in. We are pushing for increased access to HIV prophylaxis by having a relationship with the medical directors of our respective hospitals, and we have a journal club month dedicated to LGBTQ+ health after we approached our research leaders about the idea. QueerEM makes me feel more comfortable, represented, supported, and at home as a young physician; it is truly making great strides in the push for more diversity here at IU. I am so excited to be a part of that change over the next three years." 

"I learned about the Department of Emergency Medicine through QueerEM! As an openly queer applicant, one of my priorities was finding a program where I would feel comfortable being my authentic self. IU was one of the only programs in the country that had an LGBTQ+ focused group like QueerEM. Even from just virtual interviews, I was so confident in the Department of Emergency Medicine and willing to move to Indiana without ever having stepped foot in the Midwest. IU not only supports queerness but it celebrates it. I regularly get to work with other openly LGBTQ+ students, residents and staff. There are institutional policies that support queer partnerships, medical care and family planning. There are frequent social gatherings to build community as well as academic opportunities to get involved in queer-centered research and advocacy. Indy is decked out in rainbow flags even outside of Pride month. I am so proud to have found such amazing support and community through QueerEM!"