Changes in Transgender Health Curricula in Physician Assistant Programs Following the Implementation of Accreditation
Quinnette B Jones1,2,3, Heather R Batchelder1,2,3, Joanne Rolls1,2,3
1Quinnette B. Jones, DrPH, MSW, MHS, PA-C, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duke Physician Assistant Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Introduction:
The Accreditation Review Commission on the Education of the Physician Assistant, which accredits all US Physician Assistant (PA) programs, published standards in 2019 which specifically required programs to include instruction on medical care with respect to gender identity. The purpose of this study was to compare trends in the delivery of transgender content in US PA programs pre- and post-accreditation standard implementation.
Methods:
Data were drawn from 2 separate national surveys of PA programs. The first was administered in 2018 (n = 236, response rate 100%) and the second in 2021 (n = 286, response rate 71.8%). Both included questions on hours spent and courses in which transgender health content was included. Chi-square tests were conducted to compare results between 2018 and 2021.
Results:
There were statistically significant differences in PA programs reporting inclusion of transgender content between 2018 and 2021, with all courses reporting percent increases between the 2 timepoints. The largest percentage changes were in medical interviewing (43.6% in 2018, 75.5% in 2021) and infectious diseases (6.4% in 2018, 38.7% in 2021). The number of PA programs reporting <1 hour of transgender content decreased from 14.5% in 2018 to 1.6% in 2021.
Discussion:
While accreditation standards are not the only contributing factor to the increases in transgender health curricular content in this study, the increases in curricula and delivery methods are pronounced. Findings suggest that accreditation standards may be a powerful strategy in ensuring health professionals receive the content necessary to care for people who are transgender.
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