Purpose Health and social care professionals are ideally placed to identify and address gender-based violence (GBV), yet research continues to demonstrate that the subject is being poorly covered at undergraduate level. This qualitative study explored health and social care students’ and educators’ views on GBV education, with a view to identifying ‘best practice’. We aimed to capture students’ and educators’ experiences and perceptions of GBV education across participating countries; how participants thought GBV should be taught/learned within their curricula; and their views on how GBV education might be ‘optimized’. Methods We conducted nine focus group discussions and one semi-structured interview with 23 students and 21 academic staff across the UK, Australia and Chile. Results Thematic analysis yielded three themes: (1) GBV addressed in all but name, (2) Introduce sooner, explore later and (3) A qualitative approach to learning. Educators and students indicated that GBV is largely being overlooked or incompletely addressed within curricula. Many participants expressed a wish for the subject to be introduced early and revisited throughout their study, with content evolving as cohorts mature. Lastly, our findings indicate that GBV education could benefit from adopting a ‘qualitative’ approach, prioritizing survivor narratives and incorporating dialogue to facilitate student engagement. Conclusion Though time constraints and competing demands within undergraduate curricula are frequently cited as barriers to moving away from traditional didactic methods, our findings suggest that teacher-centered strategies are insufficient and, in some regards, inappropriate for GBV education. The need for a paradigm shift in GBV education is discussed.

Background Over 200 million girls from over 30 countries worldwide have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Globalisation has led to a rising prevalence of FGM in western countries such as the United Kingdom (UK). FGM has varied implications, including physical and mental health complications and legal consequences. It is therefore vital for medical students as future healthcare professionals to receive training on a clinical approach to FGM. Methods A single centre online survey was distributed amongst medical students in years 3-5 (clinical years) at a large UK medical school. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The aim was to assess perception of their knowledge and confidence with regard to FGM and to gauge opinions on the current FGM medical curriculum. Results The results demonstrate a lack of confidence despite some theoretical knowledge. For example, 43% of respondents rated themselves as having a ‘reasonable’, ‘good’, or ‘extensive’ knowledge of the risk factors for FGM, but 25% felt they were ‘not at all’ confidence in recognising these in a clinical setting. Regarding the quantity of teaching, respondents reported a mean of 1.6 hours and a heavily lecture-based current medical curriculum. Free text responses highlighted a need for more small group tutorials about FGM with a focus on developing a clinical approach. Conclusion The FGMed study identified gaps in the current FGM medical curriculum in terms of content and type of teaching in a UK medical school. This study has generated a list of specific suggestions such as increasing the number of clinically oriented small group teaching sessions, and increasing the number of teaching hours in clinical years. Overall, these results and recommendations may be transferable to other countries and contexts given the global significance of FGM.