Transgender Education Experiences Among Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents: A National Survey.

Abstract

To assess the current state of training among U.S. Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/Gyn) residents in the field of transgender medicine. An anonymous survey was sent to current OB/Gyn residents in the United States, which contained a series of questions regarding their training experiences caring for transgender patients. Roughly half of respondents (49.4%) reported having formal didactics in transgender medicine or personal experience caring for a transgender patient (46.8%). Only 14.5% of respondents had any surgical training, and 59% responded that they had at least some comfort level caring for transgender patients. Of the areas of care assessed, residents felt most comfortable providing appropriate cancer screening to transgender patients and least comfortable with gender-affirming hormone therapy management. Just 50.3% of respondents felt that they worked with at least one faculty member with expertise in transgender medicine, and more than half (51.1%) responded that they felt there were barriers to training in their program, with 14% reporting a perceived atmosphere of bias or discrimination toward this patient population. The majority of residents (82.6%) expressed interest in additional training in this field, with direct patient exposure and didactic lectures identified as being the most desired learning modalities. Approximately half of resident respondents reported didactic exposure to transgender medicine in their current programs, with far fewer having surgical training. At least half of respondents felt that there were barriers to their training in transgender medicine, and a majority of respondents were interested in further training in this field.