Swiss Medical Professional Organisation Has (No) Problems With Transgender Individuals

The Swiss medical professional organization, FMH, is working to address specific issues in the medical treatment of transgender individuals. Yves Zenger from FMH’s Politics and Communication Department pointed to articles in the Swiss Medical Journal highlighting the need for specialized consultation hours and integrating gender identity knowledge into medical training. However, a trans individual, identified by the initials A.B., faced an inappropriate gendering issue from FMH’s base organization, VSAO. Despite providing no gender-specific information, A.B. was addressed with a male salutation by a VSAO representative. This incident demonstrates the challenges FMH faces in its dealings with transgender individuals. A question arises about how other national medical organizations in Europe might be faring better in this regard.

The professional organization “FMH” of the Swiss medical community appears to be striving to address specific problems in the medical treatment of transgender individuals. Yves Zenger from the FMH’s Department of Politics and Communication reported on May 23, 2023, in response to an inquiry made on May 22:

“Regarding the special needs of transgender individuals, we would like to point out two articles in the Swiss Medical Journal:

Swiss Medical Journal – Transgender people need their place in the healthcare system (saez.ch)

Swiss Medical Journal – The difficult path to self-discovery (saez.ch)

Certainly important are the special consultations, and given the societal sensitization towards gender identity, also the integration of relevant medical knowledge into the education, further education, and professional training of the corresponding disciplines, as well as the references to generally accessible platforms and information centers such as… .”

Meanwhile, A.B. (initials changed), who had inquired about complaint options regarding a medical treatment deemed problematic by two FMH specialists at the FMH base organization for assistant and senior physicians (VSAO) on May 18, 2023, received a response from the VSAO legal secretary and deputy managing director, Yvonne Stadler, on May 24, incorrectly addressed as “Sir” (“Dear Sir…”):

“Apart from the fact that I was treated with the diagnosis HA60 ICD-11 (Gender Dysphoria), I made no mention of transitioning in my request. The details of the treatment contained no information that would indicate my gender. The only clue to my gender that the recipient of the request had was my first name. This is a distinctly feminine name that does not even exist in a masculine form, like ‘Paul’ to ‘Pauline’. How on earth Yvonne Stadler came to address me as ‘Dear Mr. …’ is something she might best know herself. However, her gaffe clearly shows the current state of affairs within the Swiss FMH in terms of handling transgender individuals.”

Are there perhaps some countries in Europe whose largest national medical organizations no longer make such mistakes?