New paper describes success of dedicated training on LGBT+ health introduced at medical school

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) population experience health and social inequalities, including discrimination within healthcare services. There is a growing international awareness of this discrimintation and the importance of providing healthcare professionals and students with dedicated training on LGBT+ health in an attempt to prevent it. 

A new paper describes the success of dedicated training on LGBT+ health introduced in a medical school, including a visit from a transgender patient. This increased students' confidence in using appropriate language related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and in the clinical assessment of LGBT+ patients. The project was led by Dr Jessica Salkind and a team at UCL Medical School, with statistical support from Dr Henry Potts at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics.

Even in countries with robust legal equality for the LGBT+ population, there remain significant health and social inequalities. These inequalities extend to those being treated and working within healthcare systems, including the NHS. To address this, the World Health Organisation and the Association of American Medical Colleges, among others, have called for dedicated teaching on LGBT+ health. Various programmes have been introduced, but a 2017 systematic review found programmes often had no or minimal involvement of LGBT+ people themselves. Therefore, the UCL Medical School team introduced teaching based on the input of LGBT+ people, with an equal focus on sexual orientation and gender identity. The teaching programme aimed to enable students to understand and explore the impact of prejudice and discrimination on LGBT+ people and to consider how medical students and doctors can promote their health and wellbeing.

To read the full paper visit the International Jounral of Environmental Research and Public Health's website or click here.

Jessica Salkind, Faye Gishen, Ginger Drage, Jayne Kavanagh and Henry Potts (2019) LGBT+ Health Teaching within the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(13), 2305; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132305