A longitudinal women's health curriculum: a multi-method, multiperspective needs assessment.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Women's Health
• Gender-Specific Medicine

Background:

• Critical competencies in women's health are essential for medical student education.
• Assessing current teaching levels is crucial for curriculum development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define essential women's health competencies for medical students.
• To evaluate the extent of current teaching of these competencies.

Main Methods:

• Development of a comprehensive set of women's health competencies.
• Implementation of a multi-method needs assessment involving faculty and students.

Main Results:

• Identified significant deficits in basic sciences, including hormonal influences (estrogen, androgen) on various organ systems, nutrition, and alternative medicine.
• Highlighted gaps in clinical training regarding diseases unique to women, psychosocial aspects, and gender-specific clinical evaluation.
• Faculty and student evaluations showed agreement on identified deficits.

Conclusions:

• The medical school curriculum insufficiently addresses the impact of gender on disease processes.
• There is a clear need for an integrated, longitudinal approach to gender-specific medicine in medical education.