Oxford School of Sexual Medicine: how are we doing?

Since 2007, the European Society of Sexual Medicine has held an annual 2-week educational residential program at Oxford. The Oxford School of Sexual Medicine provides knowledge and skills learning opportunities for healthcare professionals.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of Oxford School courses on the daily practice and medical careers of fellows from different countries.

All participants in the Oxford School programs were invited to anonymously complete a self-administered questionnaire.

The questionnaire comprised three sections: socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents; four Likert-scale score items inquiring about professional background; and 17 closed and two open questions to evaluate the impact of Oxford School on the respondents' practices. Differences in proportions of categorical variables between respondent subgroups were assessed using Pearson χ(2) test.

The mean age of the 54 fellows who participated in the study was 44 years (range 28-63 years), 71% were men and 29% were women. Fifty (92%) were physicians, two (4%) psychologists, and two (4%) were sex therapists. Following participation in the Oxford School course, significantly more participants reported spending 50% or more of their clinical time practicing sexual medicine than prior to the course (59% [32] vs. 27% [15], P < 0.001, Figure 1); and significantly more reported spending 50% or more of their working time in clinical research (54% [29] vs. 33% [18], P < 0.001, Figure 2). Forty-six fellows (85%) reported current participation in teaching activities, compared with only 29 (54%) prior to participating in the Oxford School course.

Educational activities in sexual medicine, such as the Oxford School, may contribute to the advancement of clinical practice, teaching activities, and clinical research of healthcare providers who are interested in sexual medicine.