Background: Transgender individuals experience significant health disparities, including stigma and lack of provider knowledge. The Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) has specific educational objectives regarding care for transgender individuals; however, the extent to which OB/GYN residents meet these objectives is not known.
Methods: We invited all current US OB/GYN residents to complete an electronic, anonymous 42-item survey including questions regarding transgender health training, experiences caring for transgender patients, and comfort meeting the CREOG educational objectives.
Results: Of programs that had at least one respondent, 313 of 2276 eligible trainees completed the survey for a corrected response rate of 13.8%. The majority (76%) of respondents had received at least some form of training on transgender health topics. 42% of respondents had cared for a transgender individual as a resident. While most residents (80%) felt comfortable with basic trans-sensitivity protocols, only 22% of respondents felt competent to provide trans-relevant services. Over 90% of respondents felt this was an important topic for OB/GYN residents to learn and desired to receive more training.
Discussions: While many respondents felt comfortable with basic topics regarding terminology and sensitivity protocols, a minority of respondents reported feeling prepared to provide care for transgender individuals independently. Given the high desire among respondents for more training, creation of high-quality educational materials for OB/GYN residents should be a priority for residency programs and national organizations, such as CREOG.
Keywords: Curriculum Development/Evaluation, Instructional Materials/Methods, LGBTQIA, Underserved Communities
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2017, Resident, Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, GME, Advocacy,
Kyle Bukowski, MD; Michael Haymer, MSW; Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH
