Eileen CichoskiKelly, Ph.D., has a longstanding interest in creating better healthcare outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth, so when the opportunity arose to help medical professionals develop new ways to care for and communicate with this population, she grabbed it. Last month, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) invited CichoskiKelly, director of educational instruction and scholarship in the University of Vermont College of Medicine’s Office of Medical Student Education, to join its Advisory Committee on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Development.

According to the AAMC, the goal of this committee is to “assist its ongoing efforts to ensure medical students and practicing physicians master the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to provide high-quality care for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming and/or born with differences of sex development.”

CichoskiKelly applied to become a committee member and was appointed to the Ad Hoc Committee on Interprofessional Education, which works across disciplines – nurses, doctors, medical support staff, social workers and even guidance counselors – involved with LGBTQ care.

The ad hoc committee plans to launch a video series of various case scenarios that answer questions for doctors and other health professionals, says CichoskiKelly. The videos would tell patient stories and show dialogue between patients and providers on issues confronting different LGBTQ age groups.

 “We agree that we’re going to do some serious work on this committee,” CichoskiKelly says.

She hopes to help providers and families address some of the challenges that arise when, for example, children express discomfort with the gender in which they were born. It’s not implausible for a girl as young as four to talk about feeling like a she’s really a boy, CichoskiKelly says.

“What’s new is parents and healthcare providers coming and saying, ‘What do I do?’” about that kind of situation, she explains.

CichoskiKelly, who is also an associate professor of family medicine at UVM, will serve a two-year term on the committee.