WORKING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR INCREASINGLY
DIVERSE
POPULATION Dr. Megan Clark | Photo by Kristen McEwen
By Greg Basky
R
egina family physician Dr. Megan Clark still remembers a patient she first met when she was a resident. “She was a young trans woman. She was smart and sweet, and she just needed someone to follow her through her hormone treatment. We bonded over a shared love of Harry Potter,” recalls Dr. Clark, who now provides care to about 50 transgender and gender diverse patients as part of her practice in the Family Medicine Unit at Regina Centre Crossing. Dr. Clark remembers her young patient being confused; she’d started hormone therapy and needed to get an appointment to see an out-of-province psychiatrist. “I was waiting with her, to see her through all the steps involved in getting gender reassignment surgery. It was just so rewarding.” Transgender and gender diverse people are part of Saskatchewan’s growing and increasingly diverse population. With that diversity comes unique health-care needs that doctors like Clark are stepping up to meet. She and other physicians in the province are working to make their practices safe and welcoming places for patients who can often feel vulnerable or marginalized at work or school. While reliable figures on the number of transgender people in Saskatchewan aren’t available, Dr. Clark said U.S. data would suggest that between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent
of the total population likely self-identify as trans or gender diverse – which would translate to somewhere between 7,000 and 8,200 people (based on a population of 1,169,131 as of April 1, 2019). Other physicians see trans and gender diverse patients, but there are only about 10 in this province who specialize in or get referrals for this population, according to Dr. Clark; she is one of four doctors that the Ministry of Health relies on to make recommendations about which patients should be approved for out-of-province gender reassignment surgery. At Regina Centre Crossing, Dr. Clark and her colleagues use appropriate names and pronouns starting when patients first contact the clinic. “This helps patients feel safe, as does my familiarity with the local organizations and health-care systems supporting trans people and transition-related health care,” said Dr. Clark. She applies the same principles of patient-centred care and shared decision-making she does with any of her patients. “My mindset is that trans and gender diverse patients have some unique health-care needs, but the most important practice is to treat them with the same respect that everyone deserves.” Attitudes in the medical community are improving, according to Dr. Clark, but some doctors continue to pathologize this patient group.
SMA DIGEST | FALL 2019
23
