Interview with Sarah Kimball
Sarah Kimball, MD is a board-certified internist and is an Assistant Professor at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Kimball has a expertise in immigration-informed medical care, where she has helped to research and build health systems that are responsive to the needs of im/migrant patients. She is currently the Director of the Immigrant & Refugee Health Center (IRHC) at Boston Medical Center, a comprehensive medical home that addresses the barriers that immigrants face to being holistically healthy. With the recent publication of her work, “Sexual and Gender Minority Refugees — Preparing Clinicians for the International Anti-LGBTQI+ Crisis”, CFD communications fellow Autumn Bachofen sat down with Sarah for an interview.
You can read Sarah’s latest paper here.
CFD Team: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What led you to do the work you are doing today?
I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of social justice and medicine, which led me to a career in immigrant and refugee health. As a primary care doctor and the Director of the Immigrant & Refugee Health Center at BMC, I have the privilege of working with people from all over the world who have ended up in Boston looking for safety and healing for themselves and their families.
CFD Team: Your article is about the role of clinicians in the international anti-LGBTQI+ crisis as it relates to forced displacement. How would you introduce this crisis to someone who has never heard of it before?
In many countries of the world, LGBTQI+ people are persecuted, even tortured, for who they love and how they are – forcing them to leave their homes in order to be safe. These individuals have unique health needs, and we believe that clinicians and health systems can and must be prepared to support the health and legal needs of LGBTQI+ individuals who are seeking care in the US.
CFD Team: If you had to choose, what is the one thing you wish people would take away from this article?
At a time of increasing anti-LGBTQI+ [sentiment], the medical community can play a critical [role] in helping to support recovery from trauma and promote wellness in the LGBTQI+ community. Through concrete steps that we outline in the paper, individual clinicians and health systems can help to create safety and provide expert care to this population, which is critical to their wellness.
CFD Team: What are your hopes for the future of sexual and gender minority refugees?
We believe it is both a privilege and a duty for clinicians to advocate for building a society where no people are harmed because of who they are or for freely expressing their identity.
(*Note – this is a quote from the paper- but it nicely summarizes my deepest wishes)
CFD Team: What are your plans going forward?
I plan to continue to work to make the Immigrant & Refugee Health Center a place where LGBTQI+ individuals feel welcomed and safe getting their needs met, and can find acceptance and recovery. I also plan to continue to fight for the US to be a safe place for these new members of our community, working to fight against the laws and policies rising in many states that seek to strip people of their right to free expression.