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Welcome to the Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA) at the UNC School of Medicine! Through our involvement with students, faculty, and administrators in the School of Medicine and other UNC Health Schools, we seek to better educate our classmates and ourselves about serving LGBTQ+ populations. We have numerous projects in the works, thanks to our hard-working members and allies throughout the allied health services of UNC. Throughout each medical school year, we strive to share several talks with medical students and faculty, including how to be an LGBT ally, living as an LGBT physician, the endocrinology of transitioning, how to counsel patients on safe sex practices, and more. We also continue to be deeply involved in the ongoing evolution of the UNC SOM curriculum in order to work with faculty and address LGBT health education in both the pre-clinical and clinical years.

Our Mission

  1. To create a safe and welcoming community for LGBTQ+ identifying students and allies within the medical school
  2. To contribute to the recruitment of underrepresented students in medicine, including but not limited to those who identify as LGBTQ+
  3. To provide educational events for the student body regarding LGBTQ+ health and health disparities faced by the LGBTQ+ community”

Get Involved with the MSPA

We are looking for interested members (especially MS1s) who would be willing to carry on the education and advocacy work that the Medical Student Pride Alliance performs within the medical school through involvement with MS4 Capstone Curriculum, lunch time lectures, and feedback to pre-clinical curriculum development. Email one of us (or even talk to us in person) if you would like to learn more.

Who We Are

We are the organizational home for LGBTQIA+ students and faculty at the UNC School of Medicine. The MSPA advocates for structural changes within the school and the health system at large, to support the health and wellbeing of queer and trans patients of all identities. We utilize an intersectional framework in order to better educate the student body about the diverse identities and experiences that queer and trans patients hold, and to better support all LGBTQIA+ students in freely pursuing their medical career goals.

Our group is composed of students, faculty, and administrators of UNC’s School of Medicine.  Through interactions with the School of Medicine and other UNC Health Schools, we seek to better educate our classmates and ourselves on issues faced by LGBT patients in seeking health care.

Events

Leadership

Position
Officer
Contact Information
Co-presidents Elizabeth Morton (she/her) elizabeth_morton@med.unc.edu
Myrha Qadir (she/they) myrha_qadir@med.unc.edu
VP of Curriculum Sam Orenstiein (he/him) samuel_orenstein@med.unc.edu
VP of Student Advocacy Isabel Rodriguez (she/her) isabel_rodriguez@med.unc.edu
Co-Social Chairs Meghan Paschall (she/her) meghan_paschall@med.unc.edu
Grace Burud (she/her) grace_burud@med.unc.edu
Treasurer Kim Hoang (she/her) kimhj@med.unc.edu

 

Faculty Advisors

Dr. Riley Smith (he/him) | riley_smith@med.unc.edu

Dr. Ben Kaplen (he/him) | benjamin_kaplan@med.unc.edu

For Interviewees

Congratulations on getting an interview offer from UNC School of Medicine! We are excited you will be coming to visit our campus. If you would like to be hosted by a member of MSPA, whether it is meeting up for a meal or staying overnight, please let us know via email

Visitors and New Students

Are you aware that UNC-CH has a non-discrimination policy in place in order to respect all members of the campus community? It was updated in June 2008 to include both gender identity and gender expression! Go Heels!

Questions or Comments

Have a comment on the website or a question about the MSPA and/or the UNC-CH School of Medicine?
Please feel free to contact one of our student leaders

External Links

National Organization: https://www.medpride.org

Social Media: @MSPA_UNCSOM

Heellife: https://heellife.unc.edu/organization/qsa