What are future doctors learning about sex? An assessment of sexual health curricula across medical schools in the Northeastern United States.

BACKGROUND

Sexual health is an imperative area of study in medical school education, yet many medical schools do not offer a comprehensive curriculum nor is it standardized across the United States (US).

AIM

This study aims to assess written curriculum materials from sexual health curricula in medical schools across the northeast region of the US and compare the current teachings to suggested standards.

METHODS

A compilation of academic resources including lecture materials and syllabi were systematically reviewed utilizing a standardized and validated rubric with variables assessed including: biological and psychological aspects of human sexual development, anatomy and physiology of the human sexual response cycle, sexual health in relation to human reproduction, and contraceptive options. We analyzed our data from the document analysis to look at the frequency of inclusion and exclusion of the sexual health topics included in our rubric.

OUTCOMES

The outcomes of our data set were in line with our hypothesis that there is significant variance between sexual health curricula across institutions as well as an overall lack in material covering sexual health topics.

RESULTS

The data show significant sex specific differences such that male-specific topics were covered more frequently than female-specific information. Additionally, only one of the 10 schools examined taught about vulvar conditions. There was also a paucity of information about sexuality in the post-partum period.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The clinical implications of this study aim to highlight the discrepancy between an ideal sexual health curriculum and what is actually being taught in medical schools and help to guide future work of creating a comprehensive and standardized sexual medicine education in US. medical schools.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

The validity of this study was strengthened by analyzing direct curricula materials as opposed to previous use of subjective, self-reported questionnaires. However, the sample location being restricted to the Northeast was a limitation to generalize findings across the country. Future studies would aim to analyze medical school curricula across different regions in the US.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that there is a lack of comprehensive and standardized sexual health curriculum in medical schools in the Northeastern US and serves as initial evidence for further investigation of this topic across American medical schools.