Department of Medicine Resident/Fellow LGBTQ2S+ Meet and Greet 2020

What is the event? A casual and social Zoom call (sorry about yet another Zoom call!) aimed at helping current and incoming residents/fellows make connections with other trainees who identify as LGBTQ2S+. We hope to help provide some initial orientation and support to all LGBTQ2S+ trainees, from how to function on first rotation and get settled in Toronto, to how to meet new LGBTQ2S+ friends, colleagues, mentors and more. It’s time we established a strong and supportive community in the Department of Medicine.

Who is it for? This is open to any resident or fellow who identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and Two Spirit or other. This will only be attended by residents and fellows (no staff or administrators). This event is not open to allies. Future events will include staff who identify as LGBTQ2S+, as well as allies.

Who is organizing it? The University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine is committed to promoting and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion within the workplace. In the past year, the Mentorship, Equity, and Diversity committee of the DOM formed an LGBTQ2S ‘Think Tank’ to advise on matters relating to and promote initiatives to support its LGBTQ2S community. This Think Tank has started to organize various events and develop new initiatives, but unfortunately this has been slowed down by the effects of COVID-19. However, we felt it would be important to host a meet and greet for incoming residents and fellows to help them get oriented to Toronto, make some new connections, and know where they can go for support.

How can I join the event? The event will take place over Zoom on June 25, 2020 at 7pm. Please RSVP here. 

All RSVP submissions will be kept confidential. We will send a Zoom meeting code and password only to those who register. If you have any questions/concerns, you can contact Thomas Dashwood (current IM resident) at thomas.dashwood@mail.utoronto.ca.

Are there are rules or guidelines I should be aware of? We expect all attendees to be respectful of one another, and to respect each other’s right to privacy. We hope this group will foster a mutually supportive community; we will have a zero tolerance policy for any discrimination or harassment.  

What other activities will be occurring this year, and are there other ways to get involved? We are a relatively new group and are recalibrating due to COVID, but hope to have several events and new initiatives this year. There will be ways for people to get involved and suggest ideas. We can start to discuss this on the Zoom call!