WALTHAM – Dr. Yvonne Gomez-Carrion has been honored by
the Massachusetts Medical Society as the 2018 recipient of the Society’s
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health Award, an honor recognizing an
individual who has made outstanding contributions to LGBT health.
Dr. Gomez-Carrion, a Newton resident, is an Assistant
Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School and Director
of the Ob/Gyn resident surgical service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center.
Dr. Gomez-Carrion is renowned for her contributions to improvements
in health care for the transgender community. Transgender patients and their
partners flock to her practice to receive non-judgmental and affirming health
care.
This journey began in 2006, fueled by an interaction with
a transgender man who had sought treatment necessary to change his birth
certificate and had been denied treatment on multiple occasions. Dr. Gomez-Carrion was able to help and,
subsequently provided training for BIDMC staff in the OB-GYN, radiology and the
perioperative departments. She worked with the leadership at BIDMC to assure each
patient, if admitted after their gender confirming surgery, be assigned to a
private room.
“Transgender people face many obstacles during daily
life,” said colleague Dr. Jonathan Litt of Harvard Medical School and Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “They should not have to worry about
discrimination or mistreatment in with their health care.
“Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many
transgender individuals. They are consistently mistreated and maligned. It is
to the point that many of them will not seek medical care out of fear. Dr.
Gomez-Carrion provides a haven for transgender individuals. Her office is known
in the transgender community as a warm welcoming place where they will be safe and
well-cared for.”
Dr. Gomez-Carrion earned her MD from Columbia College of
Physicians and Surgeons and completed her residency training in Ob/Gyn at
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. In 2014, she received
the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Humanitarianism Award and 2017
Harvard Medical School’s Senior S.
Robert Stone award for excellence in teaching Harvard medical students.
The
Massachusetts Medical Society, with some 25,000 physicians and student members,
is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of
Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New
England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and
Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is
also a leader in continuing medical education providing accredited and
certified activities across the globe for physicians and other health care
professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is
the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information
please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.
