The Case of Sean Smith: A Three-Part Interactive Module on Transgender Health for Second-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction While great strides have been made in favor of the LGBT community overall, transgender individuals are still facing many legal challenges and suffer from more marked health issues and disparities compared to other members of the LGBT community. Our multimodal transgender curriculum was designed in accordance with the Kern model to address educational gaps in the area of transgender health. Methods This three-part module consists of: (1) a didactic PowerPoint presentation reviewing unique health issues and disparities experienced by transgender patients, (2) a small-group session viewing and analyzing a pair of videos showcasing competent and poor communication between a provider and a transgender patient, and (3) a large-group patient panel featuring members of the transgender community. Results One hundred and sixty-one students returned pre- and postworkshop surveys with 123 matched pairs. When comparing participants reported pre- and postworkshop confidence levels, the mean rating increased significantly for all three learning objectives. Based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = poor, 5 = excellent), participants’ mean ratings were highest for the patient panel at 4.5, compared to 3.9 for the large-group didactic lecture, and 3.8 for the small-group video session. Discussion The use of this multimodal approach using a didactic session, video-based case discussion, and patient panel provided a strong foundation and primer for transgender health and resulted in an increase in learner confidence in module objectives regarding care for the transgender community.

Keywords

• Transgender Health
• Communication Skills
• Cultural Competence
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Gender Identity
• LGBTQ+