Insufficient LGBTQ+ education across disciplines suggested by national survey of health professionals in training

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Lexie Wille, Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Tess Jewell, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; Atticus Wolfe, Agnest Scott College, Department of Public Health; Emily Peterson, Case Western Reserve University; Aileen Shaughnessy, Le Moyne College; Cole Roblee, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science; Alex Strader, Ohio University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
GLMA LGBTQ edu only stata coded 12.10.23 .xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 19.5 KB 11/27/2024 08:56:AM

Project Citation: 

Wille, Lexie, Jewell, Tess, Wolfe, Atticus, Peterson, Emily, Shaughnessy, Aileen, Roblee, Cole, and Strader, Alex. Insufficient LGBTQ+ education across disciplines suggested by national survey of health professionals in training. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-11-27. https://doi.org/10.3886/E212022V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Health professionals often feel underprepared to treat patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+). Additionally, lack of access to professionals who are knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ inclusive care contributes to the myriad of health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ communities. This cross-sectional survey study explores the preparedness of healthcare profession trainees for caring for LGBTQ+ patients by quantifying the hours and quality of training health profession trainees receive in LGBTQ+ education across disciplines. We surveyed US-based health professionals in training (HPiT) across disciplines (N=155) on their training programs’ LGBTQ+-specific curricula and educational opportunities. Ordered logistic regression analysis assessed the relationship between the number of hours of LGBTQ+-specific education and other discipline, organization, and individual factors. Respondents reported an average of 4.75 (SD = 3.04) hours devoted to LGBTQ+-specific education. Physician assistant trainees reported receiving the highest number of hours of LGBTQ+-specific education (M = 6.63, SD = 1.98), followed by psychology (M = 5.30, SD = 3.54), medical (M = 5.12, SD = 3.38), nursing (M = 4.17, SD = 3.28), and trainees in other health fields (M = 3.88, SD = 2.47). Across all disciplines, trainees rated their LGBTQ+-specific education on average as “good”. Despite rising awareness, the quantity and quality of dedicated LGBTQ+-specific education remains concerningly low across all measured disciplines and US regions. Future research must investigate strategies to overcome common barriers to increasing LGBTQ+ education in health professions training by maximizing the impact of limited hours through integrating LGBTQ+ content into existing materials, supporting trainee leadership, and implementing institutional support for educators teaching LGBTQ+ content. Regulatory bodies must reconsider the current guidance for LGBTQ+ education quantity and quality to advise institutions on best-practice guidelines to prepare trainees for LGBTQ+ patient care.



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