In November 2022, St. Louis University's Transgender Health Collaborative unveiled a "transgender health" toolkit seeking to reshape medical students' perspectives on gender and sexuality, according to The Daily Signal.
Developed in collaboration with the Metro Trans Umbrella Group, a non-profit supporting "transsexuals (FtM, MtF), genderqueer, androgynous, agender, intersex, drag, and questioning" individuals, the toolkit pushes for inclusivity within medical education.
The toolkit's content encourages medical educators to embrace transgender and gender-diverse identities, extending its reach to curricula across various disciplines.
Word of the toolkit started making noise when Elizabeth Keegan Garrett, an assistant professor at St. Louis University, emailed the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, introducing the toolkit as a resource for "clinical education in gender diverse populations."
Soon after, Keegan Garrett shot off her email, Do No Harm, a group advocating for ideologically unbiased healthcare, obtained a copy of the toolkit. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chair of Do No Harm, highlighted the potential pitfalls of enforcing "gender-affirming care" for children, echoing concerns raised by European medical institutions.
"While every patient deserves individualized and empathetic care, this does not mean that institutions need to adapt gender ideology in all aspects of interactions with patients," Goldfarb said.
St. Louis University, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious Catholic universities, did not respond to The Daily Signal's comment requests.
The toolkit emphasizes gender-affirming communication, advocating the integration of transgender health education into medical curricula. It also encourages educators to sidestep "invasive" questions about irrelevant medical interventions or body parts. This approach, however, raises concerns about overlooking relevant patient medical histories.
Detransitioner Helena Kerschner's account sheds light on potential complications of gender-affirming care. Her experience at AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital revealed the risks of neglecting the root causes of patient suffering in favor of affirming gender identity. During her visit, and while severely struggling with the amount of testosterone she was injecting into her body in an attempt to become a man, the healthcare professionals medically treated her as though she were a biological man in emotional distress but again ignored the testosterone she was taking as a potential underlying diagnosis.
St. Louis University, a prestigious Catholic institution, seems to be in discord with its religious foundation by embracing a progressive stance. The Catholic Church, which recognizes only two genders, cautions against gender transitions.