Teaching transgender patient care to student pharmacists

This study describes content on transgender care taught in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) course and evaluates students' confidence and knowledge of providing care for transgender people. It also examines what pharmacy students want to learn about providing care to transgender people.

Three hours of transgender patient care content was integrated into a pharmacy course that focused on therapeutics of special populations. Students completed an electronic survey before and after the class sessions to identify changes in their confidence in caring for transgender patients. The pre-class survey inquired about what the students were hoping to learn. The post-class survey asked students what was missing from this session that they would have liked to learn. Knowledge regarding transgender care was assessed through a multiple-choice examination.

Students reported interest in improving communication skills, learning terminology/vocabulary preferred by transgender people, and understanding population-specific challenges faced by transgender patients. Students reported they would have liked additional information about the transition, being transgender, and local resources available. Student confidence in asking about patient pronouns and counseling on effects of medications for gender transition were both significantly increased from the pre-class survey to post-class survey. Students demonstrated proficiency toward the learning objectives, with a 92.4% average on the examination questions on transgender care.

Student pharmacists are interested in learning skills to provide care to transgender patients. A learning session on transgender patient care integrated into a PharmD curriculum increased student knowledge and confidence in caring for transgender patients.