Obstetrics and Gynecology residency training in transgender care: a national survey of residents and program directors

Abstract

Aim: Obstetricians and gynecologists (OB-GYN) routinely care for transgender patients though most OB-GYN practitioners do not have any transgender care-specific training. The pervasive lack of training and education leads to dire health consequences for transgender patients. Residents and program directors within U.S. OB-GYN residency programs have been surveyed separately. To our knowledge, this is the first study that compares responses from residents and program directors related to their training. Our study aims to assess OB-GYN residents’ and program directors’ levels of comfort, preparedness, and knowledge in caring for transgender patients. Methods: Electronic surveys were sent to 183 OB-GYN residency programs. Resident and program director surveys consisted of questions regarding experiences with transgender care, perceptions about current transgender care training, and levels of comfort, preparedness, and knowledge in caring for transgender patients. Data were collected via Qualtrics and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: Responses were collected from 37 program directors and 94 residents across five regions defined by the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG). Over 67% of program directors reported not having an established transgender care training curriculum in their program. Among those without an established curriculum, 89% of program directors reported plans to implement one within the next year. Average levels of comfort, preparedness, and knowledge in caring for transgender patients was low for both groups, with residents scoring lower on these variables. Most program directors (89%) were amenable to using standardized training materials as part of their transgender care curriculum, if available. Conclusion: While a majority of U.S. OBGYN residency programs do not have an established transgender care training curriculum, most would use standardized training materials to implement one. This is important given that the current knowledge of transgender care amongst both program directors and residents is low. This study contributes to the limited pool of data that aims to support the development of curricula within OB-GYN residency programs to improve care and reduce health inequities for transgender patients.