Evaluation of LGBTQ+ Health Education in the Preclinical Curriculum at a Public Midwest Medical School.

Introduction: People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) face health disparities and negative health care experiences. Medical student education may be leveraged as a strategy to improve care for these patients; however, studies suggest gaps in current LGBTQ+ health education.

Objective: This project sought to evaluate how LGBTQ+ health is taught in the preclinical curriculum at a Midwest medical school.

Methods: The institution's curriculum repository was searched systematically for materials that included information on LGBTQ+ health used in preclinical courses in the 2021-2022 academic year. Information was compiled based on previously utilized evaluation tools and additional measurements developed by the authors to provide further clarity.

Results: Seventy items were identified in the curriculum repository; 38 (54%) were required for students to review. Commonly addressed topics include communication skills, terminology, and variations in sex characteristics. Topic gaps identified include mental health, cancer screening, and gender-affirming care. Among the 33 clinical skills sessions in the preclinical curriculum, 5 standardized patient cases included LGBTQ+ patient representation.

Conclusions: There was variability in coverage of LGBTQ+ health topics, with particularly more on language and variations in sex characteristics and less on mental health, cancer screening, and gender-affirming care. This study identifies opportunities to improve LGBTQ+ health education and demonstrates a framework that may be applied to evaluate curricula in other programs, to ideally enhance coverage of this material and, ultimately, improve care of LGBTQ+ patients.