4 research outputs found
International medical schools have insufficient training addressing LGBTQ+ health needs.: International Summer Conference: Inequalities in Medicine, In2MedSchool (I2MS), 2nd July 2022.
No full textBackground: The LGBTQ+ community constitutes a significant proportion of society with unique health needs. However, healthcare services and doctors often inadequately address their needs, with insufficient training proposed as a major contributory factor. This international observational study aimed to investigate the level of training in LGBTQ+ medicine during medical school.Method: Following validation with LGBTQ+ organisations, a survey was created to assess medical students’ knowledge, sources of understanding, and areas for improvement for LGBTQ+ health issues in the curricula. The survey consisted of multiple-choice and Likertscale questions. Following a pilot, the online survey was disseminated at two medical schools in London and Singapore. Findings: 330 respondents completed the survey, with comparable absolute numbers from both universities. At least one-third of respondents were unclear on terminologies such as ‘out-of-the-closet’ and ‘men who have sex with men’. Additionally, respondents lacked knowledge of clinical topics such as conversion therapy. 84.2% of respondents expressed inadequacy in learning about LGBTQ+ medicine at university, with only 27.9% of respondents indicating they learnt general LGBTQ+ issues from medical curricula. Sexual health (90.9%) was well-learnt at medical schools, whilst many other topics such as genderaffirming care were not learnt (56.7%). Conclusions: This study highlights the lack of training surrounding LGBTQ+ medicine that medical schools provide for students, with much information gathered from outside sources. Medical school curricula should be reviewed to better incorporate important issues surrounding LGBTQ+ medicine. This would better equip the next generation of doctors to address the LGBTQ+ community’s health needs
Patient voices and student insights into LGBTQ+ healthcare: a call for equitable healthcare through medical education
No full textPurpose Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) individuals have health needs specific to their identities. However, they face discrimination and cis-heteronormativity in most patient-provider interactions, which often translate into poor healthcare. Evidence suggests doctors are inadequately trained to care for LGBTQ+ patients. Medical students are well-placed as the future workforce to establish affirming behaviours. This study garners LGBTQ+ patients’ healthcare experiences, where limited qualitative evidence exists, and explores whether students have insight into these experiences.Method Thirty LGBTQ+ patients and twenty students, evenly divided between Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK), two legally and culturally different countries, consented to semi-structured interviews in 2022 to evaluate their LGBTQ+ healthcare perceptions. Thematic analysis was conducted using a collaborative, iterative process involving five investigators, with frequent auditing of data interpretation.Results Most patients described implicit biases with a lack of support and professionalism from doctors, hindering health outcomes. Patients experienced misgendering and a lack of recognition of sexual and gender diversity; students appreciated the need to acknowledge patient identity. Although perceptions surrounding certain themes were similar between patients and students in both countries, patients’ voices on the complexity and dissatisfaction of gender-diverse care contrasted with students’ lack of insight on these themes. Singapore patients were more concerned with sociolegal acceptance affecting health needs, whilst UK patients noted more nuanced barriers to healthcare. Although many students were unsure about specific health needs and perceived a lack of training, they expressed willingness to create an equitable healthcare environment.Conclusions LGBTQ+ patients provided powerful narratives on discrimination surrounding their healthcare needs. To address these, medical students must be encouraged by healthcare educators to develop identity-affirming behaviours as future change-makers and challenge cis-heteronormative views. Alongside vital institutional changes tailored to each country, patients’ and students’ collective action would create meaningful educational opportunities to reach culture change
Medical Students' Perceptions of LGBTQ+ Healthcare in Singapore and the United Kingdom
No full textIntroduction: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals have an increased scope of healthcare needs and face many barriers to accessing healthcare. However, LGBTQ+ healthcare education remains scarce, and students’ understanding of LGBTQ+ healthcare remains largely uncharacterised. This study investigated the knowledge of and attitudes toward LGBTQ+ healthcare among medical students in Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK), two culturally different countries.
Methods: Medical students in two medical schools, one in Singapore and the other in the UK, completed self-administered cross-sectional surveys using multiple-choice, Likert scale, and free-text questions to explore their ideas, concerns, and expectations about LGBTQ+ healthcare education within their medical curricula.
Results: From 330 responses, students’ knowledge levels were moderate overall, with pronounced gaps in certain areas, including terminology, sexual health, and conversion therapy. Deficiencies in knowledge were significantly greater among students in Singapore compared to the UK (p < 0.001), whilst LGBTQ+ students and non-religious students had more positive knowledge and attitudes than students not identifying. At least 78% of students had positive attitudes towards LGBTQ+ individuals, but 84% had not received LGBTQ+-specific medical education. Although junior UK students were more satisfied with the adequacy of teaching by their medical school’s incorporation of LGBTQ+ inclusive teaching in a newer curriculum, qualitative analyses suggested that students in both countries wanted to receive more training. Students further suggested improvements to the medical curriculum to meet their needs.
Conclusion: Students in both schools lacked understanding of commonly-used terminology and topics such as sexual healthcare despite affirming attitudes towards LGBTQ+ healthcare. Although sociolegal contexts may affect students’ perspectives, differences were less than thought, and students were equally keen to provide affirmative care to their patients. They emphasised a need for more formal teaching of LGBTQ+ healthcare professions to overcome healthcare disparities in these communities
Data_Sheet_1_Medical students’ perceptions of LGBTQ+ healthcare in Singapore and the United Kingdom.DOCX
No full textIntroductionLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals have an increased scope of healthcare needs and face many barriers to accessing healthcare. However, LGBTQ+ healthcare education remains scarce, and students’ understanding of LGBTQ+ healthcare remains largely uncharacterised. This study investigated the knowledge of and attitudes toward LGBTQ+ healthcare among medical students in Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK), two culturally different countries.MethodsMedical students in two medical schools, one in Singapore and the other in the UK, completed self-administered cross-sectional surveys using multiple-choice, Likert scale, and free-text questions to explore their ideas, concerns, and expectations about LGBTQ+ healthcare education within their medical curricula.ResultsFrom 330 responses, students’ knowledge levels were moderate overall, with pronounced gaps in certain areas, including terminology, sexual health, and conversion therapy. Deficiencies in knowledge were significantly greater among students in Singapore compared to the UK (p ConclusionStudents in both schools lacked understanding of commonly-used terminology and topics such as sexual healthcare despite affirming attitudes towards LGBTQ+ healthcare. Although sociolegal contexts may affect students’ perspectives, differences were less than thought, and students were equally keen to provide affirmative care to their patients. They emphasised a need for more formal teaching of LGBTQ+ healthcare professions to overcome healthcare disparities in these communities.</p
