Trans Medicine - by Stef M Shuster (Paperback)

About the Book

"stef shuster traces the development of trans medicine since the 1950s to modern medicine to show how providers create and use scientific and medical evidence to "treat" a gender identity. But, why do medical providers have authority over gender? And, what might the consequences of how providers make decisions in trans medicine teach us about medicine in general? Using historical documents, interviews with physicians and therapists, and observations of health conferences, Trans Medicine offers a rare opportunity to understand how providers make decisions given widespread uncertainty while facing challenges to their expertise. In the process of negotiating these challenges in the "treatment" of gender, providers have acquired authority not only in this medical area, but over gender itself"--

Book Synopsis

**Finalist, PROSE Award in Clinical Medicine**

A rich examination of the history of trans medicine and current day practice

Surfacing in the mid-twentieth century, yet shrouded in social stigma, transgender medicine is now a rapidly growing medical field. In Trans Medicine, stef shuster makes an important intervention in how we understand the development of this field and how it is being used to "treat" gender identity today.

Drawing on interviews with medical providers as well as ethnographic and archival research, shuster examines how health professionals approach patients who seek gender-affirming care. From genital reconstructions to hormone injections, the practice of trans medicine charts new medical ground, compelling medical professionals to plan treatments without widescale clinical trials to back them up. Relying on cultural norms and gut instincts to inform their treatment plans, shuster shows how medical providers' lack of clinical experience and scientific research undermines their ability to interact with patients, craft treatment plans, and make medical decisions. This situation defies how providers are trained to work with patients and creates uncertainty. As providers navigate the developing knowledge surrounding the medical care of trans folk, Trans Medicine offers a rare opportunity to understand how providers make decisions while facing challenges to their expertise and, in the process, have acquired authority not only over clinical outcomes, but over gender itself.

Review Quotes

"Sociologist Stef M. Shuster's Trans Medicine is a unique monograph that combines historical analysis with ethnography."-- "Bulletin of the History of Medicine"

"Trans Medicine is a brilliant study of how the context of scientific uncertainty shapes the ways medical professionals work with trans people. While appreciating the dilemmas facing doctors, shuster holds them accountable for upholding normative understandings of gender essentialism. This beautifully rendered story of medical improvisation and the search for professional credibility will be of great interest to readers of transgender studies, medical sociology, and the sociology of knowledge."--Arlene Stein, author of Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity

"Trans Medicine is original, empirically rich, and beautifully written. shuster masterfully integrates a wide range of data with a nuanced theoretical story of power, control, and medical regulation. This is truly an urgently needed study that is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of gender, sexuality, bodies and embodiment, and healthcare."--Georgiann Davis, author of Contesting Intersex: The Dubious Diagnosis

"Trans Medicine is remarkable for the way in which shuster captures health care providers speaking and acting with exceptional candor about what they think and feel about working with trans populations."--Danya Lagos - University of California, Berkeley "American Journal of Sociology"

"shuster...expertly documents how the medical field as often failed trans patients...[Trans Medicine] successfully makes the case that trans medicine should be part of the medical training of all physicians...This well-researched book is eminently readable and, in fact, quite a page-turner. It is an essential story, one that is not yet complete, as shuster acknowledges. A must-read."-- "Library Journal"

"A powerful examination of the history and present of medical providers seeking to 'treat gender.' Demonstrating how uncertainty unsettles the relationship between expertise, evidence, and clinical decision-making, Trans Medicine illuminates the path to a more inclusive, gender-affirming health care system."--Rene Almeling, author of GUYnecology: The Missing Science of Men's Reproductive Health

"Overall, shuster's book is an engaging exploration of the histories of trans medicine with an emphasis on health care administration and politics...Trans Medicine holds immense value for medical school and continuing education programs and would promote fruitful dialog about inclusive, accountable, and just health care practices."-- "Medical Anthropology Quarterly"

About the Author

stef m. shuster is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University. Their work on transgender healthcare has appeared in Gender & Society, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and Social Science & Medicine.