Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Health Education in Healthcare Professional Graduate Programs: A Comparison of Medical, Nursing, and Pharmacy Students

ABSTRACT

Relative to cisgender heterosexual persons, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people experience greater health inequities, thereby affecting their engagement in care. One strategy to address these disparities is to educate future healthcare professionals to provide nondiscriminatory care to LGBT people. The goal of this study was to explore the perceived coverage of LGBT health education topics in graduate-level medical (MD), pharmacy (PharmD) and nursing (DNP) curricula. Cross-sectional data were collected from web-based surveys (N = 733) completed by healthcare professional students enrolled at two universities in New York State. Of those who responded, 50.5% were MD, 38.9% were PharmD, and 10.6% were DNP students. Overall, mean scores indicated a dearth of perceived LGBT health coverage. Results demonstrated variations in coverage by degree program. Findings highlight the need to develop educational curricula inclusive of topics concerning LGBT patient health. Adequately educating the next generation of healthcare professionals can further promote healthcare engagement among LGBT persons and improve pedagogical practices in healthcare professional education programs.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBT health
• education
• health education
• medical education
• nursing education
• pharmacy education
• healthcare professional students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for AIDS Research, University of Rochester Medical Center [P30AI078498].