Identification of education gaps for pharmacists treating transgender and gender-diverse patients: A quality initiative at a single academic health system

Background

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) patients experience challenges and disparities when seeking health care across a multitude of settings. Studies have demonstrated that TGD individuals experience bias when interacting with health care providers, including pharmacists in the community and hospital settings. Without proper training, pharmacists are less likely to be prepared to provide equitable and optimal patient care to TGD patients. This quality improvement initiative aimed to identify gaps in pharmacist knowledge and comfort with regard to TGD health care.

Methods

A 29-item reflective questionnaire was designed to collect information on pharmacist training and experiences in caring for TGD patients. The survey was distributed via email to all 490 pharmacists within a single health system and responses were collected from October 23, 2023 to November 3, 2023.

Results

A total of 116 pharmacists completed the survey, for a response rate of 24%. Although 77% of respondents reported caring for a TGD patient, only 21% reported receiving any formal education or training on TGD health care. While 83% of respondents agreed that formal education on TGD health care is important, and 90% indicated that education on gender-affirming therapy is important, a majority of pharmacists disagreed that they were comfortable with making recommendations and providing counseling on gender-affirming therapy. A majority of pharmacists were interested in formal education and engaging in departmental initiatives to improve TGD care.

Conclusions

There was a gap in confidence and education in caring for TGD patients among pharmacists practicing in a single academic institution. Pharmacists reported that more education is warranted to bridge current gaps in pharmacist comfort and TGD health care.