Between finding providers, dealing with insurance and being far from home, healthcare for incoming college students is tough to navigate for most first-year students. For trans and nonbinary students, the process becomes even more intimidating to find the right place to receive gender-affirming care.  

But a new research project by Sociology Professor Carla A. Pfeffer is collecting the experiences of trans and nonbinary students at Michigan State University and in the greater Lansing area in hopes of improving the process of finding health care and sharing positive resources.  

“Our hope is that by learning more about what providers are doing to excel as well as where they are currently struggling to meet the needs of their trans and nonbinary student patients, we’ll be able to establish best practices and work toward better, more effective, culturally-competent healthcare service provision for all Spartan community members,” said Pfeffer, who is also chair of the Sociology department.