“Treating the transgender community was never my plan. Now, decades later, I'll answer trans medical questions you didn't even know you had!”
Do you have questions about transgender medicine and surgeries?
I am a Seattle family doctor. In 1998, a woman called and asked, "Does Dr. Gromko treat transgender women?" My answer was, "Not yet."
I received no formal training on trans medicine in medical school - and no trans education as a nurse practitioner before that. But, I explained to the caller that if she was comfortable with me as a rank beginner, I would be happy to follow her and learn transgender medicine along the way.
And so began some 25 years of service to the transgender community. Today I treat transgender clients from age 5 through 85. I prescribe gender-affirming hormones. I treat adolescents with puberty blockers. I prepare my patients for gender-affirming surgeries and take care of them afterward.
In 2015, I released 'Where's MY Book?' A Guide for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Youth, Their Parents, & Everyone Else."
The kids have grown up now, and they need more advanced information. So, I've just released A Practical Reference for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Adults. I've included the best medical illustrations I could find to explain the complicated gender surgeries. I've sought information from the most experienced people I know: my own patients as well as some of the most talented doctors in the world.
I loved writing this book. I learned so much in the process, and want to share my information with everyone who needs it - most especially healthcare professionals and the trans community at large.
