Combating LGBTQ+ health disparities by instituting a family medicine curriculum

Abstract

Research shows that a growing number of people in the United States are identifying as LGBTQ+. Therefore, it is more important than ever that clinicians are trained to be knowledgeable, inclusive, and culturally aware. Unfortunately, there is a lack of LGBTQ+ health education requirements in graduate medical education. As a result, fewer clinicians are prepared to care for this growing population. The shortage of knowledgeable clinicians contributes to LGBTQ+ health disparities and barriers to care. One strategy to combat these deficiencies in health care is for Family Medicine residency programs to create and carry out an LGBTQ+ health curriculum. This article will review LGBTQ+ health topics, identify efforts that Family Medicine residency programs can make, and summarize curriculum developments made by the St. Vincent's Family Medicine Residency Program.

Teaching LGBTQ+ Health, a Web-Based Faculty Development Course: Program Evaluation Study Using the RE-AIM Framework

“…However, Harvard Medical School recently published a comprehensive sexual and gender minority health curriculum for medical students that included an impressive faculty development plan; notably, they used web-based learning modules somewhat similar to our course [ 17 ]. Most other published LGBTQ+ health curricula or curriculum mapping exercises have been used in undergraduate or graduate medical education programs but not for CME or faculty initiatives [ 3 , 12 , 39 , 40 ]. We believe that faculty training—not just student training—is critical for the normalization of LGBTQ+ health content in the routine teaching activities of our schools.…”

“…If these trends continue, it is likely that >10% of the US population will identify as LGBT within the next several years [ 2 ]. However, studies report a physician workforce that is underprepared to care for this growing cohort of Americans [ 3 ].…”