Review of a Medical Pre-Clinical Curriculum for Competencies in Caring for Patients Who Are LGBT, Gender Nonconforming, or Born with DSD

This review aimed to assess whether the George Washington University medical, pre-clinical curriculum met any of the Association of American Medical College’s (AAMC) 30 professional competencies to improve health care for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), gender nonconforming, or born with disorders of sex development (DSD). Methods: Relevant sessions were reviewed based on instructors’ PowerPoint slides, audio recording of sessions (when available), assigned pre-session material, and notes taken by a student. Content and objectives from each session were mapped to corresponding AAMC competencies, and each competency was qualitatively graded as completely met, partially met, or unmet. Results: This review found that 18 of the 30 AAMC competencies were completely or partially met. Of the 12 competencies that were unmet, the majority fell into the domains of professionalism, systems-based practice, inter-professional collaboration, and personal/professional development. Mandatory sessions specific to LGBT/DSD health care totaled 7.5 hours, and an additional 13 hours addressed broader topics of sexual health. Conclusions: Strengths of the curriculum included greater than the national average of 5 hours of LGBT-related content, access to LGBT patients on panels, and inclusion of gay and lesbian patients in standardized patient exercises. While psychological and social determinants of health for LGBT patients were addressed, the curriculum lacked similar material for patients who are gender nonconforming or born with DSD