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Teacher-Scholar Award, Michigan State University

Inspiration Award - Professional Achievement, Center for Gender in Global Context, Michigan State University

Donald W. Light Award for the Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology, American Sociological Association Section on Medical Sociology

Social Science & Medicine : Editorial Board

Social Currents : Editorial Board

Contemporary Sociology : Editorial Board

Troubling Trends in Health Misinformation Related to Gender‐Affirming Care

The assertion of reproductive and social control in mid‐twentieth‐century US transgender medicine

How the Clinic Made Gender: The Medical History of a Transformative Idea

The uneven consequences of rapid organizational change: COVID-19 and healthcare workers

Reducing the joy deficit in sociology: A study of transgender joy

Trans Medicine

stef m. shuster is an associate professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Sociology. Their current research and teaching areas—in the social aspects of medicine, science, and gender—are united by an overarching interest in how evidence is a social artifact that is constituted through social, cultural, and historical contexts. Across their projects, shuster asks: who constructs evidence, how does evidence confer authority to individuals and groups, and how is it mobilized by social actors? shuster currently serves on the editorial boards for Social Science & Medicine, Social Currents, and Contemporary Sociology.

Inequality

Gender

Gender Affirmative Care

Medical Sociology

Social Movements

Michigan State University Profile

Google Scholar Citations

Personal Website

What Makes Trans Joy Such a Powerful Antidote to Transphobia

Michigan State assistant professor helps doctors find joy working with transgender, nonbinary people

Opinion | Who Should Be Allowed to Transition?

“Reducing the Joy Deficit in Sociology: A Study of Transgender Joy"

“Situational Gender"

“The Interplay of Emotion, Conspiracy Theories, and Discriminatory Language amongst Bernie Sanders Supporters During the 2020 Democratic Primaries"

"Making Introductory Biology Classes More Gender Inclusive"

“Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender"

“Social, Economic, and Health Consequences of COVD-19 Among Sexual and Gender Minorities of Color"

Associate Professor of Sociology of Medicine and Gender

This Public Health Conversation Starter features stef shuster, an associate professor in Lyman Briggs College and Sociology at Michigan State University, in conversation with BUSPH Dean Sandro Galea about gender-affirming care and their book Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender.

Our Conversation Starters engage leading thinkers in short discussions around issues of consequence in public health. For a full transcript of this recording, please visit: https://www.bu.edu/sph/conversations/uncategorized/in-conversation-with-stef-shuster/#phc-section-resources

In Conversation with stef shuster

(in conversation with Avery Everhart, PhD)

Drawing on interviews with medical providers who work with transgender and nonbinary patients, stef shuster examines how providers manage challenges to their expertise, given the prevalent uncertainty they experience in this medical field. shuster found that providers often rely on cultural norms and gut instincts to craft their treatment plans, interact with patients, and make medical decisions. But providers are not a homogenous group. Some took on an “uncertain expert” stance by leaning into the uncertainty pervasive in trans medicine and flexible in their approach to care delivery. Others took on a “self-assured expert” stance by doubling-down on their authority and the need for patients to convince them that they were “really” trans. As a consequence of these various strategies, providers may unintentionally perpetuate healthcare inequities.

stef shuster, PhD is an Associate Professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University and author of Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender (New York University Press, 2021).

Avery Everhart, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia and Director of Finance of the Center for Applied Transgender Studies.

Uncertain Expertise in Transgender Medicine | stef shuster, PhD

October is LGBTQ+ History month, a time to reflect on the contributions to American life by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. stef shuster, Michigan State University Assistant Professor (Sociology & Lyman Briggs), tells us about their research that focuses on transgender people and medicine. Learn more about Diversity Matters: https://socialscience.msu.edu/diversity #MSUSocialScience #TogetherWeWill

Diversity Champion, LGBTQ+ History Month 2020, stef shuster, PhD

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