The Makokis method
December 24, 2018 7:10 AM Subscribe
Could we add a "twospirit" tag please?
posted by elsietheeel at 7:24 AM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 7:24 AM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
"Getting to know your patients" may not be a revolutionary approach in the world of trans health in general, but to a certain extent it is in Canada. I'm glad to say things are starting to change nationally here through physician recruitment/training and provincial agencies helping to connect people to friendly family doctors and doctors to specialist consultations, but the geographic size of our country and relative lack of specialists has meant a historic lack of access and, at best, travelling very far for very brief appointments on which the rest of your life hinges. The Montreal surgeon noted in the article, for instance, was for many years the only surgeon in an entire country of almost ten million square kilometers performing bottom surgery and has been the subject of numerous complaints because of his bedside manner or lack thereof.
Many provinces are also facing serious family physician shortages (or at least in available hours of family physician services). In these provinces or regions, the population in general is losing out on a personal relationship with their doctors, either not being able to find one at all, having to make use of walk-in clinics with insufficient continuity of care between practitioners, and/or being restricted to very short appointments. For trans folks who may be also facing a lack of trans-friendly/knowledgeable practitioners or specialist clinics in their area or may be undertaking long journeys to see one, yes, this approach is a breath of fresh air.
posted by northernish at 8:00 AM on December 24, 2018 [14 favorites]
Many provinces are also facing serious family physician shortages (or at least in available hours of family physician services). In these provinces or regions, the population in general is losing out on a personal relationship with their doctors, either not being able to find one at all, having to make use of walk-in clinics with insufficient continuity of care between practitioners, and/or being restricted to very short appointments. For trans folks who may be also facing a lack of trans-friendly/knowledgeable practitioners or specialist clinics in their area or may be undertaking long journeys to see one, yes, this approach is a breath of fresh air.
posted by northernish at 8:00 AM on December 24, 2018 [14 favorites]
Yeah "getting to know your patients" absolutely is a revolutionary idea in Canadian healthcare in general.
posted by klanawa at 8:42 AM on December 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by klanawa at 8:42 AM on December 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
Nice article. I appreciated some of their thoughtful explanations- I hope this means this is intended to and will reach some readers who are learning more, opening their minds.
posted by Secretariat at 8:46 AM on December 24, 2018
posted by Secretariat at 8:46 AM on December 24, 2018
When I started reading I was terrified the revolutionary “method” was going to turn out to be some sort of patent medicine or quackery, glad it was “get to know your patients”!
posted by Secretariat at 8:48 AM on December 24, 2018
posted by Secretariat at 8:48 AM on December 24, 2018
This is really sweet, thank you. I'd love for more trans folks to have the opportunity to see a doctor who is themself trans and/or 2S.
posted by ITheCosmos at 9:34 AM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ITheCosmos at 9:34 AM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah "getting to know your patients" absolutely is a revolutionary idea in Canadian healthcare in general.
Same deal south of the border. I mean, I'm sure most doctors don't really want it to be that way, but that's just way it tends to work out.
Dr. Makokis seems like a really great guy, above and beyond being a dedicated physician.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:52 AM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Same deal south of the border. I mean, I'm sure most doctors don't really want it to be that way, but that's just way it tends to work out.
Dr. Makokis seems like a really great guy, above and beyond being a dedicated physician.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:52 AM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Right, so let's talk about structural access problems in Canada, not act as if this is a revolutionary approach to caring for trans people. Or focus on what it means that he's providing (presumably) culturally competent care to other Cree people.
posted by hoyland at 10:33 AM on December 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 10:33 AM on December 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Tl;Dr I was rubbed the wrong way hard by the invitation for cis people to opine about trans health care and that's what the framing offered.
posted by hoyland at 10:36 AM on December 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 10:36 AM on December 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
Right, so let's talk about structural access problems in Canada, not act as if this is a revolutionary approach to caring for trans people.
As someone who's genderqueer, indigenous, and works in health care policy, I thought it was a solid article highlighting good work that's being done and the work that still needs to come. My hope for discussion would be accepting the Canadian lens on this article the way the rest of frequently accept the U.S. lens on most Metafilter material and not necessarily leading off with calling the authors ignorant for being Canadians writing about the Canadian trans health care scene.
posted by northernish at 12:38 PM on December 24, 2018 [17 favorites]
As someone who's genderqueer, indigenous, and works in health care policy, I thought it was a solid article highlighting good work that's being done and the work that still needs to come. My hope for discussion would be accepting the Canadian lens on this article the way the rest of frequently accept the U.S. lens on most Metafilter material and not necessarily leading off with calling the authors ignorant for being Canadians writing about the Canadian trans health care scene.
posted by northernish at 12:38 PM on December 24, 2018 [17 favorites]
Tl;Dr I was rubbed the wrong way hard by the invitation for cis people to opine about trans health care and that's what the framing offered.
I don't really get that vibe but that might be because I am not someone who identifies with any of the aspects of these people that are being discussed so I wasn't looking at it critically enough. It seemed to me like the article took it as a given that gender non-conforming people should have good, humane health care and weren't getting it normally, but I can also see how "oh, we should just treat them like people" being cast as a significant advancement might instead seem dehumanizing.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:12 PM on December 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I don't really get that vibe but that might be because I am not someone who identifies with any of the aspects of these people that are being discussed so I wasn't looking at it critically enough. It seemed to me like the article took it as a given that gender non-conforming people should have good, humane health care and weren't getting it normally, but I can also see how "oh, we should just treat them like people" being cast as a significant advancement might instead seem dehumanizing.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:12 PM on December 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I was expecting a Cree Doctor Who.
posted by w0mbat at 6:00 PM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by w0mbat at 6:00 PM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by hoyland at 7:15 AM on December 24, 2018 [5 favorites]