Introduction: Cultural competency in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) healthcare has been found to be lacking within various medical specialties, but no studies have compared competency among primary care providers. Methods: The authors compared 127 primary care providers' cultural competency regarding LGBTQ health using a survey that assessed providers' attitudes, practices, and knowledge. Results: Overall, 78.0% of respondents agreed that they were comfortable treating LGBTQ patients. Yet many providers did not feel well informed on specific LGBTQ health needs, on clinical management of LGBTQ care, nor on referring patients with LGBTQ issues. Overall accuracy on LGBTQ knowledge questions was 51%. There were significant differences in attitudes, practices, and knowledge across medical specialties. Conclusions: This study revealed a lack of cultural competency among primary care providers. There is a need for greater LGBTQ-specific education to increase providers' comfortability and competency in the needs, management, and referrals within LGBTQ healthcare.

Investigated whether doctoral-level professional psychology programs responded differently to initial requests for information from minority and nonminority applicants. A letter from a fictitious student was sent to 257 programs. Programs were randomly assigned to an ethnic condition (White, Black, or Hispanic). The minority students were more likely to receive a response than were nonminority students, and minority students received more personal forms of communication than did the nonminority student. However, the overall amount of minority recruitment information shared with applicants was the same for both minority and nonminority students. The findings suggest that few programs are using materials sent to prospective minority applicants as a method for implementing their affirmative action policy.The need to prepare professional psychologists to serve minority populations continues to grow (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1984). The Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs (BEMA) of the American Psychological Association (APA) reported that the number of ethnic minority group members in the United States is projected to grow to 25% of the United States popula-ROLAND K. YOSHIDA received his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1974. He is professor of special education at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), and educational psychology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. He was formerly Chair of the Division of Psychological and Educational Services at Fordham University. ANTHONY A. CANCELLI received his EdD from Oklahoma State University in 1976. He is currently the Coordinator of the School Psychology Program at Fordham University. JOHN SOWINSKI is a research assistant in the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University. He is an MS candidate in education, specializing in counseling and personnel services. RECKS BERNHARDT received his PhD from Syracuse University in 1971. He is currently Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University. He also served as Director of Admissions for the School.

Objectives As an initial step toward our goal of developing a completely tissue-engineered larynx, the aim of this study was to describe and compare three strategies of creating tissue-engineered muscle-polymer constructs for hemilaryngeal reconstruction. Methods Cartilage-mimicking polymer was developed from electrospun poly(D,L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PCL). Primary muscle progenitor cell cultures were derived from syngeneic F344 rat skeletal muscle biopsies. Twenty F344 rats underwent resection of the outer hemilaryngeal cartilage with the underlying laryngeal adductor muscle. The defects were repaired with muscle stem cell–derived muscle–PCL constructs (5 animals), myotubc-derived muscle–PCL constructs (5 animals), motor end plate–expressing muscle–PCL constructs (5 animals), or PCL alone (controls; 5 animals). The outcome measures at 1 month included animal survival, muscle thickness, and innervation status as determined by electromyography and immunohistochemistry. Results All of the animals survived the 1-month implant period and had appropriate weight gain. The group that received motor end plate–expressing muscle–PCL constructs demonstrated the greatest muscle thickness and the strongest innervation, according to electromyographic activity and the percentage of motor end plates that had nerve contact. Conclusions Although all of the tissue-engineered constructs provided effective reconstruction, those that expressed motor end plates before implantation yielded muscle that was more strongly innervated and viable. This finding suggests that this novel approach may be useful in the development of a tissue-engineered laryngeal replacement.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals face numerous health care disparities, including stigmatization and discrimination in health care environments. Radiology personnel can help to remove such barriers by providing a welcoming clinical environment, practicing cultural humility, and staying up-to-date with rapidly changing recommendations related to transgender care. Continued research will help to provide even stronger evidence-based guidelines for transgender care.

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