The Last Page is dedicated to individuals who are making a positive impact on the LGBTQ community in Central Florida and Tampa Bay.
This issue, we check in with Orlando’s Dr. Rafael E. Piñero. Keep an eye on this space to learn more about the movers and shakers of your community.
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico but living in Florida since 1994
Identifies As: Cisgender Male
Pronouns: He/His/Him
Out Year: Born this way!
Profession: Board Certified Family Physician/ Medical Director
Professional role model: Anthony Fauci
Autobiography Title: “Late, Even To My Own Funeral”
Hobbies: Gardening, listening to music, going to theater and movies. I wish I would have more time for biking and camping.
How do you champion for the local LGBTQ community?
Provide a safe, nonjudgmental primary care medical practice for the LGBTQ+ community, educate providers on the importance of HIV prevention by being part of the speaker bureau with Gilead, politically volunteered for liberal candidates, get involved in issues affecting the LGBTQ community and support LGBTQ local businesses.
What is your favorite thing to read in Watermark?
Editorials. When in high school, I was the Editor-in-Chief of my school’s paper. I think editorials set a tone for the newspaper’s point of view and opens a channel for discussion on important topics affecting the community.
What is your favorite local LGBTQ event?
Come Out with Pride. I love the spirit of festivity and community unity felt during the parade and events of the day.
What is your favorite thing about the local LGBTQ community?
Its diversity and especially its resilience after the tragic event our community went through back in 2016.
What would you like to see improved in the local LGBTQ community?
More cohesiveness and a sense of responsibility for the future LGBTQ generation. I also want to see more fresh new LGBTQ people as elected officials in Orlando and Central Florida. I want to see a local group of professionals create a local senior citizen and assisted living facility and rehab for the LGBTQ community in mind. This last vision is one that did not come to me as I am getting older, but by the many times I saw friends and patients going thru difficult times that did not have the proper social support to endure their worsening medical conditions and social isolation.
What would you like our readers to know about you?
This is me, with all the qualities and imperfections. I do not like to pretend what I am not and do not like that in others either. I consider my close friends part of my family.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Life is short and full of opportunities. Do not doubt yourself and give yourself permission to be happy without the need for other people’s approval.
What inspired you want to get into the health care field?
This is a question that I have been answering since before entering into medical school in the late ‘80s and with more years of practice, I keep adding new reasons. Like most of the people that go into the health care field, I have the desire to help everyone so this was certainly my initial first reason. Back then when I was about to complete medical school several things were going on and among them, President Bill Clinton was trying to do his health care reform. Access to primary care was a big topic and it was Hillary Clinton and her crusade for health care reform that inspired me to become a primary care physician.
I became convinced that the best way I could help as a physician was in early prevention of disease. While training and working in primary care in my early years, it became evident for me how prevalent was that minorities were underserved and that health services to the LGBTQ community were limited by prejudice and HIV fear. As I kept practicing, my initial desire to help everyone became more a personal challenge to find ways of keeping my patients healthy in an imperfect health care system. I soon discovered that trying to be a patient advocate is not always easy. You may end up being criticized no matter how hard you work, no matter your expertise.
So now, what inspires me is to know that after 25 years, I still wake up proud of being a primary care provider despite the challenges and that I remain committed to science and prevention (vaccines!!).
Why would it be beneficial for an LGBTQ person to have an LGBTQ doctor?
The benefits of having an LGBTQ doctor for a LGBTQ person are enormous. That patient can visit a medical office just being themselves with the medical provider, ask the questions they really want to ask and request medical treatment early for conditions that may be embarrassing for them.
They could start their gender transition sooner and under proper medical supervision without risking their health. The patient could talk about sex, relationships, family issues, STD’s, substance abuse, mental health and start PrEP for HIV prevention.
As a family physician, I know that many LGBTQ people tend to delay regular health screenings like blood pressure checks, diabetes screening, pap smears, mammograms, colon cancer screenings. An LGBTQ doctor can help fix that. Also, in a good primary care setting, you can update your immunizations, a very hot topic lately brought to light with the COVID pandemic. I believe an LGBTQ doctor is not there to justify risky behaviors but to make you understand the risks of the decisions you take
