With nearly 20,000 students on campus, WSU holds significant and cherished diversity—each student brings their own ideas, values and lifestyles to Pullman.

With so many individuals, it’d be impossible to provide only one healthcare option; this is particularly true for those that are in the process of transitioning genders.

Dennis Garcia, physician and Medical Director at WSU Health and Wellness, said these doctor’s appointments are often complex and require specialized physicians to provide appropriate care and achieve the patient’s goals.

Unfortunately, WSU Health and Wellness Center is not one of these facilities.

“There are levels of care we can provide, and there’s levels of care we can’t provide,” Garcia said. “We’re not equipped to provide that kind of care.”

While WSU Health and Wellness will do their best to care for the patient and make referrals, it is also hard to find that specialized care in the region we live in, Garcia said.

“There’s not a lot of available medical care of that sort on the Palouse,” Garcia said. “In Pullman, we don’t even have an endocrinologist, or a cardiologist. We have to send those patients to Spokane.”

While the medicine must be very specialized, WSU has the psychological aspect covered.

Garcia mentioned that transitioning can be a psychologically daunting change in an individual’s life, and WSU’s Psychology and Counseling Services can provide counseling and care for those undergoing gender transition.

While WSU Health and Wellness lacks the specialized training to help transgender individuals physiologically, Garcia provided the names of some doctors on the Palouse that will take on these patients.

Janice Boughton, a healthcare provider with Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, is among the doctors that will see transgender patients.

Boughton specializes in internal medicine, which is a practice that pertains to a lot of transgender physiological needs.

Heidi Stanton Schnebly, director of GIESORC at WSU, has also compiled a list of healthcare providers that will see transgender patients throughout the Palouse.

Some of these doctors include Geoffrey Stiller of Linea Cosmetic Surgery, Benjamin Adkins of Pullman Family Medicine.  Other facilities that provide gender-transition health services are Moscow Family Medicine and Natural Health Techniques.

As far as support during the process of transitioning, WSU Counseling and Psychology Services provides a gender diversity support group called Transcend, and an LGBTQ support group called True Selves.

Inland Oasis, a volunteer-based organization, is another LGBTQ resource center located in Moscow, which provides a variety of support services, HIV testing and counseling.

For more information on resources for transgender students, visit GIESORC’s website, thecenter.wsu.edu/transstar-student-resources, and inlandoasis.org.