Twelve tips for incorporating and teaching sexual and gender minority health in medical school curricula

Abstract

The World Health Organization has identified many barriers to improving the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients, including challenges to incorporating and teaching about healthcare for such patients, which we call “sexual and gender minority” (SGM) health content. These challenges include structural and logistical barriers to incorporating SGM health content into undergraduate medical curricula, as well as lack of support in identifying high-quality pedagogical methods for teaching this material. Here, we provide twelve tips for incorporating and teaching SGM health curricular content in undergraduate medical education, including resources and strategies to support individual educators. Based on our success in developing and implementing this content, we believe that our approach can be effectively used by individual educators aiming to incorporate SGM health curricular material into their teaching, and to support individuals or groups championing the inclusion of a SGM health topical sequence in medical curricula.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Solotke

Michael Solotke is a first-year medical student at Yale University School of Medicine and a leader of the health trainee LGBTQI interest group, OutPatient. He has been involved in pitch development and implementation of pitches for the LGBTQI Health thread in the YSM curriculum.

Nicole A. Sitkin

Nicole A. Sitkin is a third-year medical student and Founding Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council on LGBTQ Affairs at the Yale University School of Medicine. She was a primary collaborator in designing, distributing, and providing support for adoption of curricular pitches for the LGBTQI Health thread in the YSM curriculum.

Michael L. Schwartz

Michael L. Schwartz, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Associate Dean for Curriculum at the Yale University School of Medicine. He provided institutional support for the initiative, contributed to the development of strategies to approach educational leaders and faculty, and interfaced with other stakeholders to facilitate the development and implementation of the LGBTQI health thread in the YSM curriculum.

John A. Encandela

John Encandela, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Director for Curriculum and Educator Development at the Yale University School of Medicine Teaching and Learning Center. In addition to providing evaluation expertise, he was a primary collaborator in designing, distributing, and providing support for curricular pitches for LBGTQI-related healthcare curriculum at YSM.