Dharushana Muthulingam (or Dr. D., as her patients call her) has been working as a physician for more than a decade. She’s smart and ambitious. She’s also queer, totally chill, easy to talk to, and just really, really cares about people.
“I can bring all of my information and training and experience,” she says. “But what it really comes down to is what’s going on in my patient’s life. Then we can come to shared priorities, problem-solve, and make sure my patient feels empowered and reassured that they have what they need to take care of themselves.”
In fact, Dr. D. wants her patients to feel like their care is actually sort of boring—the goal is routine maintenance that doesn’t need to take up a whole lot of room in their lives, plus extra support when more care is needed.
“A lot of our patients are caregivers themselves,” she says. “They have other things to manage, and sometimes they put themselves and their care last, when really it’s all the more important that they take care of themselves. So I want them to feel like they have ownership over their care, and I want it to be so easy it’s almost boring.”
“At the same time,” Dr. D. says, “sometimes the best thing I can do is just validate that what people are dealing with is hard. None of us can do everything, and it can be healing to hear that the stuff you’re dealing with is real, and it’s hard. But we’re here for you, and we’ll always try our best.”
As a queer person herself, it’s also been super important to Dr. D. to work in queer-affirming organizations in her career. And for that reason, Vivent Health has been a stellar fit for her, just as it has for so many of her patients.
“We’re not just queer-friendly, we’re fundamentally a queer organization,” she says. “And being able to be yourself and take care of your body in the way you live your life, that’s critical for living a good, flourishing life. Sexuality is an important part of healthcare. Relationships are a part of healthcare, communities are a part of healthcare. I take pride in being part of an organization that really values those connections, people’s identities, and making people really feel that they can be who they are.”
Dr. D. earned a Master’s Degree in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley, and a medical doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco. She completed fellowships in Infectious Disease and Investigational Medicine at Yale. She writes health journalism and essays and has been published in Vogue and Ms., as well as interviewed by the New York Times, the Washinton Post, and more.