Incorporating sexual and reproductive health care in the medical curriculum in developing countries

Medical educators have a responsibility to train physicians and other health professionals in the core competencies needed to improve the sexual and reproductive health of their communities. Yet sexual and reproductive health care is significantly under-represented in the basic educational curriculum for medical and other health professionals, as well as in continuing medical education and professional development programmes for practising physicians and other health professionals. The Commonwealth Medical Association Trust is developing a model curriculum on sexual and reproductive health that can be integrated into undergraduate medical education and used with appropriate amendments for continuing medical education. This paper outlines topics for inclusion in the curriculum and three strategies for incorporating core components of sexual and reproductive health in the curriculum--by developing themes that can be integrated into the general curriculum in a multi-disciplinary fashion, adding free-standing modules as electives, and delegating cross-cutting issues such as gender issues and adolescent reproductive health to courses run by other departments. It argues for the use of problem-solving and case-based learning methodologies, as well as lectures, as the best way to teach health professionals how to provide information, counselling and support for sexual and reproductive health, as well as to cover the range of prevention and treatment needs of women and men seeking these services.