Women's health issues and residents' knowledge

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Women's Health
• Internal Medicine

Background:

• The American Board of Internal Medicine recommends integrating women's health and gender-based medicine into internal medicine residency curricula.
• Current curricula may not adequately prepare residents in critical areas such as domestic violence and cardiovascular disease in women.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess internal medicine resident perceptions of curricular adequacy in women's health, specifically domestic violence and coronary artery disease.
• To compare resident perceptions with their actual knowledge in these areas.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 86 internal medicine residents using a 17-item Likert scale for perceived adequacy.
• A knowledge-based questionnaire was administered to assess understanding of domestic violence and coronary artery disease in women.

Main Results:

• 91% of residents reported inadequacies in the women's health curriculum.
• 26% of residents who found the domestic violence curriculum adequate could not identify key detection, triage, or treatment factors.
• Similarly, 26% of residents who rated the cardiac curriculum as adequate lacked knowledge of gender differences in coronary disease risk, presentation, or prognosis.

Conclusions:

• A significant discrepancy exists between resident self-perceived curricular adequacy and demonstrated knowledge in women's health topics.
• Internal medicine residency programs require curriculum enhancement to ensure competency in managing domestic violence and coronary artery disease in women.