In this 1-hour training, Dr. Stéphanie Madill (she/her), Ph.D., and Elijah Gatin (he/him) discussed their research which investigated the experiences of trans and gender diverse people across Saskatchewan have accessing healthcare. The training’s goal is to empower healthcare professionals with effective communication tools for discussing a person’s gender and treatment preferences. It will also provide education on the specific healthcare needs of transgender and gender-diverse people. The training aims to enhance cultural safety principles and promote acceptance of gender diversity. It will address the challenges encountered in rural healthcare settings and explore the effects of the healthcare system, including cancer care, and the actions of individual healthcare providers on gender affirmation. 

Dr. Stéphanie Madill is an Assistant Professor, School of Rehabilitation Science at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed her B.Sc. in Physical Therapy at the University of Alberta in 1993 and then worked clinically in diverse practice areas from inpatient rehabilitation to long term care, State Schools for the Severely Handicapped, to maximum security prisons). She completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science at Queen’s University and a postdoctoral fellowship at l’Université de Montréal. She is a faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan, School of Rehabilitation Science. Her research interests have shifted to promoting health equity for people who are trans and gender diverse. Stéphanie identifies as lesbian, queer, and disabled. She has been involved in queer activism since the early 1990s, starting with co-chairing GALOC, the University of Alberta’s gay and lesbian student association. Her teaching includes lifespan development, palliative care, disability theory, sexuality and disability, gender and sexual minority health disparities, and HIV and AIDS in the Saskatchewan context. Dr. Madill was invited by OUT Saskatoon and members of the trans community to co-lead the TRANS Project, with Dr. Megan Clark, MD, in 2018. 

Elijah Gatin (he/him) is a Trans Health Navigator Saskatoon & North SK, Trans Sask.