Increasing medical student confidence in gender and sexual health through a student-initiated lecture series

Abstract

Introduction: Medical students self-report insufficient training in topics of gender and sexuality in medicine, which may ultimately lead to negative health outcomes in patients for whom they willprovide care. This study aims to identify whether a studentinitiated lecture series on topics related to gender and sexual health leads to greater student comfort with discussing topics related to diverse sexual content.Methods: Medical students matriculated during two consecutive academic years were invited to participate in the lecture series. Investigators administered anonymous pre- and post-seriessurveys (n=152 and 105 respondents, respectively) using google forms. Respondents rated their comfort levels discussing relevant topics and provided narrative feedback concerning strengths andareas for improvement of the lecture series. Overlaps between the 95% confidence intervals around pre- and post-series percentage of students comfortable/very comfortable discussing each topicwere examined to compare pre- vs post-series comfort ratings. Narrative comments were reviewed for thematic feedback.Results: 105 medical students completed the lecture series, with 80% identifying as female. Self-assessed comfort levels across all seminar topics were greater in post- versus pre-lecture seriessurveys with the following topics showing the biggest differences (percentage of students “somewhat” or “very” comfortable [95% confidence intervals]: discussing sexuality with gender (68%[59-77] vs. 29%[22-36]) and sexual minority patients (84%[77-91] vs. 49%[41-57]), HIV prevention counseling (70%[61-78] vs. 20%[20-34]), identifying female genital cutting (44%[34-53] vs. 11%[6-16]), and discussing intimate partner violence (65%[55-74] vs. 33%[25-40]). Qualitative analysis indicated respondents found the lectures to be effective and believed they should be integrated into the required medical school curriculum. Conclusion: Our student-initiated lecture series was associated with greater student comfort discussing topics related to gender and sexuality with patients. This framework represents a usefulmethod to address gaps in medical education and has the potential to improve health outcomes in multiple populations.

Keywords

• medical students
• curriculum
• gender and sexual minorities
• sexual health
• sexuality
• gender identity