Teaching Trans-Centric Curricular Content Using Modified Jigsaw

Transgender (trans) individuals have unique medical needs and difficulty accessing quality health care, exacerbated by inadequate provider knowledge. Incorporation of trans health care into medical school curricula has increased recently to address this gap. Jigsaw activities emphasize positive interdependence through structured cooperative learning, resulting in increased interest and self-confidence. We implemented a voluntary 2-hour modified jigsaw exercise on trans health care with changes designed to optimize the structure for medical students.

The session was implemented both in person and virtually over 2 years with preclerkship medical students at the end of their endocrine/reproduction physiology course. The session featured a knowledge test with answer discussion followed by a clinical correlation-either a case discussion or video discussion. A pre- and posttest design compared students' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs.

Eighty-nine students participated. Their initial attitudes and beliefs regarding trans health care were highly positive and remained elevated. Participants showed increases in knowledge and self-confidence discussing gender identity and clinical care postsession. All expressed interest in further training and felt the session enhanced their understanding of trans health and reproductive physiology. On 1-year follow-up, students showed decreased knowledge and self-confidence in discussing trans health; however, scores remained higher than presession. Student surveys suggested formal integration of more trans health education into the curriculum.

Medical students increased their knowledge and self-confidence regarding trans medicine and felt the modified jigsaw exercise was an effective teaching method. The results suggest that ongoing education is an important tool in optimizing trans health care.