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.



Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2024-11-27]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.