When Kent Carter was looking for a medical school to continue his studies, one of the factors he considered was how diverse his future campus might be.

"When I applied, I made sure to include my past involvement in LGBT activities in my applications," said Carter, a second year medical student at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. "At some schools where I interviewed, when I got to that part of the interview, their entire demeanor toward me changed. They became very negative toward me. I made the decision when I applied that I don't want to be at a place where it was going to be an issue. When I came here, there were no issues and that made me feel more positive about coming here."

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso created an Office of Diversity Affairs three years ago led by Jessica Caldern-Mora and Mayra Morales and recently launched the Safe Zone LGBT Allies training.

"Safe Zone training is something that's done in various undergrad and graduate school campuses around the country," said Caldern-Mora, senior director of the Office of Diversity Affairs. "We started a Gay and Straight Campus Alliance in 2012 and that was initiated by our office and current third-year medical students. They came on to campus and saw a need for this type of group."

The Safe Zone program was created to develop, enhance and maintain environments in workplaces, schools and other social settings that are culturally competent and supportive to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) individuals.

"It's about creating a welcoming, inclusive environment for gays, lesbians, bisexual or transgender individuals rather they be patients or colleagues," Caldern-Mora said. "It's about increasing the capacity to address the issues faced by the LGBT population and to train allies, individuals who serve as advocates on campus."

Since the Safe Zone program began in September, more than 170 medical and nursing students, faculty, residents and staff have been through the training.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso's Office of Diversity Affairs is creating "Safe Zones" for the LGBT community. (Mark Lambie - El Paso Times)

"After the training, we provide all of our health care professional a rainbow pin so they can wear on their white coats to show that the are LGBT friendly," Caldern-Mora said. "We also give them placards and students place them on their lockers and physicians put them on their office door so we are seen more around campus so the LGBT population can see that we are an open campus."

Caldern-Mora said she does not have statistic on how many LGBT individuals are on campus.

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Safe Zone LGBT Allies training makes a difference at Paul L. Foster School of Medicine