Canadian Federation of Medical Students
Fédération des étudiants et des étudiantes en médecine du Canada
324 Somerset Street West, Suite 300
Ottawa, ON K2P 0J9 Canada
Tel: 613-565-7740 Fax: 613-288-0524
E-mail: office@cfms.org
Web: www.cfms.org
Dear Medical Student,
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students encourages you to complete the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Medical Education Assessment (LGBT-
MEA). This easy to complete web-based survey has been developed by Stanford
University’s LGBT Medical Education Research Group to examine the ways that LGBT
related health topics are addressed in Canadian and American medical schools.
A considerable body of research demonstrates that LGBT populations experience
difficulties in accessing providers with appropriate LGBT competencies and are
disproportionately affected by a number of conditions including mental illnesses,
substance abuse and particular types of cancer. Despite these disparities, little is
known about the training that medical students receive to help them care for their LGBT
patients and improve the health of this community.
At the CFMS, we believe that medical students must be appropriately prepared to meet
the needs of the LGBT community so as to provide the best possible care to our
patients. The results of LGBT-MEA will be used to help develop practical tools that will
ensure that medical schools are adequately preparing their students with regard to
LGBT health concerns in order to ameliorate the health challenges faced by this group.
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students fully supports this initiative and we
encourage you to complete the LGBT-MEA in order to improve medical education
and the health of the LGBT community across North America.
For more information about the CFMS, please visit cfms.org.
Questions and comments about the LGBT-MEA can be directed to the Stanford
University School of Medicine LGBT Medical Education Research Group at
lgbt@med.stanford.edu or vi