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ABSTRACT
Limited research has examined the ways in which public health training programs equip students to address health disparities affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and other sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. This study outlines the availability of public health curricula on SGM health topics, and the prevalence of LGBT and SGM-inclusive institutional support services across CEPH-accredited U.S. schools of public health. Content analysis of all course offerings related to gender and sexuality revealed a limited focus on sexual and gender minority health: just 4.7% of courses contained keywords indicating that LGBT or SGM health topics were covered. Similar analysis of institutional support services available at U.S. schools of public health found that only 25% of schools had LGBT student organizations, and just 19% had an office of diversity that specifically advertised LGBT or SGM-inclusive programming or services on the institution’s Web site. Finally, only two of 52 schools offered an educational certificate centered on LGBT health. These findings illustrate a significant need for enhanced curricular content and institutional support services that equip public health students to address SGM health disparities. Improvement in this area may encourage future health care professionals to work to reduce these disparities, to improve SGM persons’ experiences in health care settings, and to generate further research in this area.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the participation of researchers from the Tulane Society for Sexuality, Health, and Gender, Apurva Mallampati, Christina Crowley, and Tali Brenner, for their contributions to creation of the datasets and work on data coding.
Funding
This study was funded by the Interdisciplinary Innovative Programs Hub at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine or New York University School of Medicine.