Using a Hybrid Lecture and Small Group Standardized Patient Case to Teach the Inclusive Sexual History and Transgender Patient Care

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Using a Hybrid Lecture and Small Group Standardized Patient Case to Teach the Inclusive Sexual History and Transgender Patient Care

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Background: Previous negative experiences with the medical community often leave transgender people reluctant to seek needed medical treatment and preventive care. Inadequate training in transgender healthcare during all stages of medical education promotes the disparities experienced by this community. Undergraduate medical education is uniquely positioned to address these disparities by better preparing future physicians to provide inclusive care to transgender patients; however, curricular coverage of these topics remains inadequate.

Methods: The second-year clinical skills course at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine includes a hybrid workshop consisting of a one-hour lecture about the components of an inclusive sexual history, followed by a 1.5 hour, faculty-facilitated small group session during which students interview a standardized patient playing the role of a transgender man with abdominal pain. During the session, students were provided with an optional, anonymous pre- and post-intervention survey assessing the impact of this workshop.

Results: After the session, there was a statistically significant increase in students’ knowledge of the Create your own automated PDFs with JotForm PDF Editor 1 components of an inclusive sexual history, in the number of students who felt that their medical training had effectively prepared them to provide medical care for transgender patients, and in those who reported feeling comfortable gathering a sexual history from a transgender patient. Students overall reported a high level of satisfaction with the session and the standardized patient case.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the hybrid-learning format of the sexual history workshop effectively improved students’ knowledge and confidence regarding transgender healthcare and sexual history taking. Although our case was acted by well-coached cis-gender standardized patients without the lived experiences of being transgender, students still reported that it provided a realistic opportunity to explore the nuances of transgender healthcare. While we demonstrated value in using cis-gender standardized patients, future directions of this project will explore the recruitment of transgender standardized patients.

Publication Date

9-2020

Keywords

undergraduate medical education, transgender, sexual history, communication skills, medical simulation

Using a Hybrid Lecture and Small Group Standardized Patient Case to Teach the Inclusive Sexual History and Transgender Patient Care

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