An Effective Gender-Affirming Care and Hormone Prescribing Standardized Patient Case for Residents

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• LGBTQ+ Health

Background:

• Over 700,000 individuals in the U.S. identify as transgender or gender expansive.
• Marginalization in healthcare leads to suboptimal care and inequitable outcomes for this population.
• Health sciences trainees often lack adequate training in gender-affirming care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create, pilot, and evaluate a standardized patient case for gender-affirming care.
• To provide accessible training for family medicine residents with limited resources.
• To improve the knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and intended behaviors of trainees regarding gender-affirming care.

Main Methods:

• Curriculum developed with patient input and expert physicians.
• A formative standardized patient case was implemented for 20 family medicine residents.
• Pre/post surveys assessed knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and intended behaviors.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in self-reported knowledge and awareness in providing gender-affirming care.
• Faculty observers also reported increased knowledge and comfort.
• The case was effective in improving resident understanding and skills.

Conclusions:

• Community-informed standardized patient cases can effectively enhance resident knowledge and awareness of gender-affirming care.
• Implementing such training is associated with improved care for transgender and gender expansive individuals.
• Further adoption of this training is recommended to advance health care equity.