HEALTH CARE. DOCTOR JESSE EHRENFELD IS A BUSY MAN. OH BOY. BY DAY, THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST SEES PATIENTS AND SCRUBS UP IN OPERATING ROOMS AT MILWAUKEE’S FREDERICK HOSPITAL, WHERE HE’S ALSO SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN AND DIRECTOR OF THE ADVANCING A HEALTHIER WISCONSIN ENDOWMENT AT THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN. BY NIGHT, HE’S A HUSBAND AND FATHER TO TWO YOUNG BOYS. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT’D BE GREAT TO BE IN THE NAVY. HE’S A DECORATED NAVY COMBAT VETERAN, HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IT. WHOSE WORK AND SERVICE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THREE US PRESIDENTS AND FOR THE LAST YEAR, HE SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. THE FIRST OPENLY GAY LEADER OF THE NATION’S LARGEST PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PHYSICIANS AND STUDENTS. IN ITS 177 YEAR HISTORY. HOW HAS THAT INFLUENCED YOUR WORK? AND I’VE HAD GREAT EXPERIENCES. I’VE HAD HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES. I’VE HAD EXPERIENCES WHERE IF SOMEONE HAS SAID TO ME, YOU KNOW, NEXT TIME YOU KNOW, YOUR WIFE SHOULD BRING YOUR SON BECAUSE HE’S MISBEHAVING IN A DOCTOR’S VISIT, RIGHT? HOW DEFLATING IS THAT FOR HIM? AND FOR ME TO HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE? NOBODY SHOULD EXPERIENCE THAT. WHEN YOU BECAME AMA PRESIDENT, YOU SAID THAT YOU WANTED TO IMPROVE HEALTH EQUITY FOR UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. HAVE YOU DONE THAT? WE HAVE. YOU KNOW, THERE’S A LOT OF STUFF THAT’S HAPPENED IN THIS PAST YEAR THAT I’M VERY, VERY PROUD OF. YOU KNOW, AS AN LGBTQ PERSON. BUT CERTAINLY AS AS WE THINK ABOUT EXECUTING OUR MISSION TO LIFT UP HEALTH FOR EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, IN THE TECHNOLOGY SPACE, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY IS OFTEN HAVE NOT BEEN BUILT FOR EVERYBODY, RIGHT? WE’VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS. IT’S ONLY BEEN THIS YEAR THAT THE FDA IS FINALLY HOLDING HEARINGS AND LISTENING GROUPS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO FIX THIS PROBLEM OF MISCALIBRATED TECHNOLOGIES THAT DON’T WORK FOR EVERYBODY. FOR THE PAST DECADE, DOCTOR EHRENFELD HAS ADVOCATED ON BEHALF OF LGBTQ PLUS PATIENTS AND PHYSICIANS IN 2019, TESTIFYING ON CAPITOL HILL THAT THERE WAS NO MEDICAL FOUNDATION FOR BANNING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE FROM ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE. FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ENACTED THE POLICY BEFORE IT WAS LATER REVERSED. THE CHALLENGE IS, YOU KNOW, THERE IS JUST AN ALL OUT ATTACK ON SCIENCE, RIGHT? AND SCIENCE EVOLVES. IT CHANGES. THAT’S FINE. THAT’S WHY WE DO RESEARCH AND WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF THAT FACT, RIGHT? WE LEARNED A TON DURING COVID ABOUT THE VIRUS, HOW TO DEAL WITH IT, VACCINES. WE’VE LEARNED A TON ABOUT HOW TO TAKE CARE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE, RIGHT. IN TERMS OF PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES AND MEDICINES AND CARE PATHWAYS. WE’VE LEARNED A TON ABOUT GENDER AFFIRMING CARE. THE SCIENCE CHANGES. THERE’S NO PROBLEM WITH THAT. BUT WE OUGHT TO ALWAYS HOLD UP THE LATEST SCIENCE AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT DRIVES DECISION MAKING. WHAT DOES PRIDE MEAN TO YOU? YOU KNOW, FOR ME, PRIDE IS ABOUT VISIBILITY, RIGHT? IT’S ABOUT CELEBRATING OVERCOMING SO MANY OBSTACLES THAT GET IN THE WAY OF LIVING OUR LIVES AS OUR TRUE SELVES. AND I NEVER IMAGINED 20 YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL, THAT I COULD BE AT THE HEAD OF THE AMA, AND HERE I AM. AND THAT’S SOMETHING CERTAINLY WORTH CELEBRATING. GERRON JORDAN REPORTING. ONLY THREE WISCONSIN DOCTORS HAVE SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE AMA. EHRENFELD WILL NOW ADVISE THE ORGANIZATION AS IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT WHILE CONTINUING H