Allyship — The Listening Surgeon

The conversation

Allyship in surgery and medicine

In medicine, allyship shows up in small moments and in structural ones: who gets introduced by title, who gets credit on rounds, who is in the room when decisions are made, and who speaks up when a comment in the OR lands on someone who can’t safely answer back.

To me, being an ally means listening first, using whatever standing I have to make room for others, and staying in the work when it costs something. It also means expecting to get things wrong sometimes, and being willing to be corrected.

I’m still learning what this asks of me. Below are a colleague’s call to action, voices I return to, the community I organize with, and reading for anyone who wants to go further.

Allyship in action

Dr. Carla M. Pugh on allyship

Heather Logghe, MD, with Dr. Carla M. Pugh — With Dr. Carla M. Pugh, SBAS president 2021–2022, at Stanford, October 2026.

In “Allyship in Action,” an excerpt from her 2022 Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) presidential address published in The American Journal of Surgery in 2023, Dr. Pugh makes the case that allyship is the critical, missing link to crossing the quality chasm in health care.

Allyship in action: The critical, missing link to crossing the quality chasm in healthcare Carla M. Pugh, The American Journal of Surgery 226(4):404–406 (2023). An excerpt from the 2022 SBAS presidential address. Society of Black Academic Surgeons The society Dr. Pugh led as president in 2021–2022.

Voices on allyship

Words I return to

Organizing now

Allies are in AOSA’s name

Association of Out Surgeons & Allies Advocacy & Activism Committee Heather Logghe, MD Jad M. Abdelsattar, MD Co-Chairs · 2026–2028

The Association of Out Surgeons & Allies (AOSA) brings together LGBTQ+ surgeons, trainees, and allies, and allies have been part of it from the very first meeting.

AOSA’s Education & Outreach Committee lists among its goals creating educational content on “how to be a good ally within the surgical profession.” Allies are welcome to join, and committee members can sign up on a rolling basis.

Join AOSA Become a member of the Association of Out Surgeons & Allies. Membership is required to take part in AOSA committees. AOSA Committee Member Registration AOSA’s official form for joining a committee. Choose Advocacy to join the Advocacy & Activism Committee; you can select more than one committee. AOSA committees Goals for each committee, including Advocacy & Activism and Education & Outreach. My work with AOSA What our Advocacy & Activism Committee is working on, and how to get involved.

LGBTQ+ in surgery

The cost of staying silent

When I think about allyship in surgery, I think about who feels safe enough to be fully seen at work. This short perspective in the Annals of Surgery lays out what it costs LGBTQ+ trainees and faculty when they don’t, and what the rest of us can do about it.

Beyond the Scalpel: Tackling Challenges Faced by LGBTQ+ Surgical Trainees and Faculty

Xie S, Schlussel A, Shao J. Annals of Surgery. 2025;282(2):196–198. Free full text.

The authors describe LGBTQ+ surgeons as a “silent” minority. In survey data from the 2019 American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination, 59.2% of LGBTQ+ surgical trainees reported discrimination, compared with 42.3% of their non-LGBTQ peers, and 47.5% reported sexual harassment, compared with 29.3%. In a separate study, 89% of LGBTQ+ surgery residents did not disclose their identity when applying for residency.

They also describe the toll of constant self-monitoring and code-switching to avoid being seen as “too gay,” a cumulative strain that can take up a clinician’s “mental bandwidth” and compromise patient care. Their fixes span the individual, institutional, and systemic levels: correct pronouns and inclusive language, bias and bystander training, enforced nondiscrimination policies, mentorship networks, and membership in organizations like AOSA.

Key takeaway: Silence isn’t neutral, and the person staying silent shouldn’t have to carry its cost alone. Each of us can make it safer to be seen, from the pronouns we use to the policies we enforce.

DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006715 · More on belonging in surgery →

Allyship in surgery

Bound Together: Allyship in the Art of Medicine Danielle I. Ellis, Annals of Surgery (2021). Argues that clinicians can learn allyship from what they already practice every day: lifelong learning, humility, and persistence in the pursuit of healing. Facilitators and barriers to allyship in academic surgery: A qualitative study Lucy Zhuo and colleagues, The American Journal of Surgery (2021). The importance of allyship in Academic Surgery Jessica L. Weaver and colleagues, The American Journal of Surgery (2023). Allyship in surgery: Moving beyond awareness into action Hannah A. Priddy and David A. Spain, The American Journal of Surgery (2025). Allyship in Surgical Residents: Evidence for LGBTQ Competency Training in Surgical Education Monica Grova and colleagues, Journal of Surgical Research (2021). Reducing Implicit Bias: Association of Women Surgeons #HeForShe Task Force Best Practice Recommendations Sandra R. DiBrito and colleagues, Journal of the American College of Surgeons (2019). The Doctor Is Out: Supporting Inclusion for LGBTQ+ Surgeons Tony Peregrin, Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, March 2023 (PDF of the full issue; the feature starts on page 14). Features AOSA and practical ways LGBTQ+ surgeons and allies can support inclusion.

Connect & collaborate

This work is better done together

If you’re thinking about what allyship looks like where you work, I’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch For collaboration, speaking, research partnerships, or conversation.