Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use survey data to better understand medical students’ comfort in taking care of transgender patients and determine if this is an area that needs to be expanded upon in their curriculum.
Background: Transgender men and women have specific gynecologic needs that physicians should be aware of in order to provide equitable health care. Because of the lack in transgender specific medical education, we hypothesize that students will feel increased comfort in caring for transgender patients after specific teaching on the needs of this unique population.
Methods: Eight pre-clerkship medical students from the Uniformed Services University participated in a virtual 2-week course about gynecologic transgender care which included a mix of self-paced and self-directed learning, combined with 2 days of interactive faculty-led sessions. Students were asked to complete a pre and post course survey evaluating their comfort in caring for transgender individuals.
Results: Results showed that students’ knowledge significantly improved after taking this course with 100% of students rating their skills/ knowledge as “very good” or “excellent” after course completion. In addition, 100% of students “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that this course built their confidence in taking care of transgender patients in the clinical setting. In regards to significance, 100% of students “strongly agreed” that the content of the course is important.
Discussions: With the positive response from medical students, there is a potential to understand where the gaps in communication lie between physicians and transgender patients which could improve patient care.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2022, Student, Resident, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Clerkship Coordinator, Osteopathic Faculty, Residency Director, Residency Coordinator, Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning & Improvement, GME, Independent Study, Advocacy, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery, General Ob-Gyn,
Alexandra Roessling, Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences; Danielle Wright, MD
