D. Kyle Sutherland
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
After completing my master’s degree in criminology at Simon Fraser University, I worked as a research coordinator at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. In collaboration with a team of investigators, we examined social determinants of health among vulnerable youth populations. Here, I developed a keen interest in how the role of structural stigma produces health inequalities among marginalized communities. In turn, this experience became an impetus to pursuing my Ph.D. in the area of Medical Sociology.
Why did you decide to study at UBC?
The University of British Columbia offered me the opportunity to pursue my education at a top-ranked university in one of the most scenic places in Canada
What is it specifically, that your program offers, that attracted you?
I chose UBC to work with my senior supervisor, Dr. Amin Ghaziani, a Canada Research Chair in Sexuality and Urban Studies and a leading expert in LGBT issues. Moreover, as a top internationally ranked program, UBC’s Department of Sociology offers its’ students the ability to connect with top scholars in the field as well as engage with other very talented graduate students from across the world.
What was the best surprise about UBC or life in Vancouver?
Vancouver, British Columbia, is an extremely beautiful place to live. I love the fact that you are never too far away from the ocean and the mountains
What aspects of your life or career before now have best prepared you for your UBC graduate program?
Between my degrees, I took time to work and travel. I found this to be beneficial as a means of obtaining practical experience, developing new skill sets, and recharging myself to tackle my next degree.
What advice do you have for new graduate students?
Imposter syndrome is a hurdle that MANY new and current graduate students contend with throughout their degree. It is totally normal to feel this way, so keep your head up.
Learn more about D. Kyle's research
Transgender (trans) is an umbrella term used to describe individuals who identify with a gender incongruent to their sex recorded at birth. There are approximately 200,000 trans individuals age 18 and older in Canada. For trans individuals, sexual or physical victimization, harassment, isolation, and institutional discrimination are often experienced on a daily occurrence. Consequently, trans people have a 2-to-3-fold increased risk of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and self-harming behaviour in comparison to their non-trans counterparts. Access to health care services thus becomes paramount for trans individuals as good health can improve their interpersonal relationships, social connections, and quality of life. Yet, the first Canadian estimation of health care inequalities of trans individuals revealed a medically underserved population with barriers ranging from a lack of provider knowledge on trans issues to refusal of health care. As a result, health care avoidance remains high amongst the trans community in Canada. Although medical sociologists have shed important light on the unmet health care needs among the trans community, little empirical attention has addressed why this phenomenon is occurring, leaving pertinent underlying causal mechanisms unidentified. My dissertation addresses this knowledge limitation by answering the following research questions: What social factors contribute to health care avoidance among trans communities? And, how can social barriers impacting trans-individuals’ access to primary and specialty health care services be addressed? I focus on access in Vancouver BC, an ideal setting as BC is the first province in Canada to create a provincial health system to support trans individuals, entitled Trans Care BC. I address the research questions by (1) examining the relationship between the social determinants of health and trans-related discrimination; (2) assessing health care inequalities between trans and non-trans individuals; and (3) examining physicians/service providers’ perceptions pertaining to health care provisions for trans patients. Intended findings seek to benefit the trans community’s access to health services while enhancing practitioners, health care providers, and the Canadian health care system’s overall understanding of trans-related health care needs.
