Assessing Residency Program Approaches to the Transgender Health CREOG Objective

Purpose: The transgender population is a small yet distinctive portion of the gynecology patient population, requiring both primary care and specialty services. Recognizing the need for increased education, the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) developed objectives specific to the care of transgender patients. This study is to assess residency program directors' knowledge about the transgender health CREOG objectives, describe how objectives are being implemented in training programs, and identify what types of educational materials would be useful if available. Methods: In May 2014, an 11-item anonymous survey was sent through e-mail to all eligible program directors of accredited obstetrics and gynecology residency programs. The short questionnaire contained questions about program demographics, approach to training residents with regard to the CREOG objectives, and opinions on tools they would like to use to train their residents on the transgender CREOG objectives. Results: Just under half (47%) of the 86 geographically diverse respondents were from hospital-based programs. The majority reported that the transgender health objectives were important (82%); however, only 70% were familiar with the objectives themselves. Most respondents (96%) felt that providing an educational activity in their training program would be beneficial for their residents' education. Conclusions: Most program directors support the CREOG transgender health objectives and are in favor of implementing educational tools to meet the objectives, suggesting that development of new tools to meet this need would be useful. Future endeavors will be made toward build a training module to facilitate obstetrics and gynecology (Ob-Gyn) programs meeting the CREOG objectives.