2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: News
PUSHing for more LGBT resources in nursing, sciences
New groups QUEST and PUSH will help with awareness, promoting diversity and job recruiting
Rachel Baye
Two new groups on campus have embarked on a "quest" to "push" for more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender awareness.
Queer Undergraduates in Engineering, Science and Technology, founded last semester, will primarily serve students studying science and technology in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or the College of Arts and Sciences.
Nurses at Penn Understanding Sexuality in Healthcare, founded this semester, will primarily serve students in the School of Nursing.
Both groups emphasize that they welcome any interested students, whatever their sexual orientation or field of study.
Leaders of both groups said they founded their organizations in response to voids in their respective schools.
Engineering junior and QUEST founding president Matt Feczko said he was approached by LGBT Center director Bob Schoenberg to fill the LGBT void in Engineering. He also expanded QUEST's scope to include students studying science or technology-related fields in the College.
Nursing junior and PUSH founding president Yana Sigal said she was frustrated by the lack of a Nursing LGBT community. But more than that, she was "totally blown away" by a lack of awareness among her fellow students.
"If a patient is transgendered, how do you address that patient? What pronoun do you use?" she asked. "[Students] don't realize that there are more options for gender than just male and female."
Sigal added that there are specific health risks affecting the LGBT community that future nurses should be aware of, such as higher breast cancer rates in lesbians.
After QUEST and PUSH are fully-established, there will be LGBT-specific groups in nine of the 12 Penn schools, said Schoenberg.
While the agendas of QUEST and PUSH may seem similar, the groups' specific goals are unique.
QUEST's goals are similar to those of the Wharton Alliance, a group founded a few years ago to serve LGBT Wharton undergraduates.
Queer Undergraduates in Engineering, Science and Technology, founded last semester, will primarily serve students studying science and technology in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or the College of Arts and Sciences.
Nurses at Penn Understanding Sexuality in Healthcare, founded this semester, will primarily serve students in the School of Nursing.
Both groups emphasize that they welcome any interested students, whatever their sexual orientation or field of study.
Leaders of both groups said they founded their organizations in response to voids in their respective schools.
Engineering junior and QUEST founding president Matt Feczko said he was approached by LGBT Center director Bob Schoenberg to fill the LGBT void in Engineering. He also expanded QUEST's scope to include students studying science or technology-related fields in the College.
Nursing junior and PUSH founding president Yana Sigal said she was frustrated by the lack of a Nursing LGBT community. But more than that, she was "totally blown away" by a lack of awareness among her fellow students.
"If a patient is transgendered, how do you address that patient? What pronoun do you use?" she asked. "[Students] don't realize that there are more options for gender than just male and female."
Sigal added that there are specific health risks affecting the LGBT community that future nurses should be aware of, such as higher breast cancer rates in lesbians.
After QUEST and PUSH are fully-established, there will be LGBT-specific groups in nine of the 12 Penn schools, said Schoenberg.
While the agendas of QUEST and PUSH may seem similar, the groups' specific goals are unique.
QUEST's goals are similar to those of the Wharton Alliance, a group founded a few years ago to serve LGBT Wharton undergraduates.
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Melody
posted 9/09/08 @ 3:01 AM EST
Seems that the population self-identified as, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) becomes more and more. According to my experience on the site *BiLoves dotcom* (a site for coming out, explore sexuality, etc. (Continued…)
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