Wille Lexie, Jewell Tess, Wolfe Atticus, Peterson Emily, Shaughnessy Aileen, Roblee Cole, Strader Alex
Gender & Sexuality Program, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States of America.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 6;20(1):e0316931. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316931. eCollection 2025.
Health professionals often feel underprepared to treat patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+). Additionally, lack of access to professionals who are knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ inclusive care contributes to the myriad of health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ communities. This cross-sectional survey study explores the preparedness of healthcare profession trainees for caring for LGBTQ+ patients by quantifying the hours and quality of training health profession trainees receive in LGBTQ+ education across disciplines. We surveyed US-based health professionals in training (HPiT) across disciplines (N = 155) on their training programs' LGBTQ+-specific curricula and educational opportunities. Ordered logistic regression analysis assessed the relationship between the number of hours of LGBTQ+-specific education and other discipline, organization, and individual factors. Respondents reported an average of 4.75 (SD = 3.04) hours devoted to LGBTQ+-specific education. Physician assistant trainees reported receiving the highest number of hours of LGBTQ+-specific education (M = 6.63, SD = 1.98), followed by psychology (M = 5.30, SD = 3.54), medical (M = 5.12, SD = 3.38), nursing (M = 4.17, SD = 3.28), and trainees in other health fields (M = 3.88, SD = 2.47). Across all disciplines, trainees rated their LGBTQ+-specific education on average as "good". Despite rising awareness, the quantity and quality of dedicated LGBTQ+-specific education remains concerningly low across all measured disciplines and US regions. Future research must investigate strategies to overcome common barriers to increasing LGBTQ+ education in health professions training by maximizing the impact of limited hours through integrating LGBTQ+ content into existing materials, supporting trainee leadership, and implementing institutional support for educators teaching LGBTQ+ content. Regulatory bodies must reconsider the current guidance for LGBTQ+ education quantity and quality to advise institutions on best-practice guidelines to prepare trainees for LGBTQ+ patient care.
医疗保健专业人员常常觉得自己没有做好准备来治疗那些自我认同为女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者和/或酷儿(LGBTQ+)的患者。此外,缺乏能够提供有关LGBTQ+包容性护理知识的专业人员,导致LGBTQ+群体面临众多健康差异。这项横断面调查研究通过量化不同学科的医疗保健专业学员在LGBTQ+教育方面接受培训的时长和质量,来探索他们照顾LGBTQ+患者的准备情况。我们对美国各学科的在职医疗保健专业人员(HPiT)(N = 155)进行了调查,了解他们培训项目中针对LGBTQ+的特定课程和教育机会。有序逻辑回归分析评估了LGBTQ+特定教育时长与其他学科、机构和个人因素之间的关系。受访者报告称,平均有4.75小时(标准差 = 3.04)用于LGBTQ+特定教育。医师助理学员报告接受LGBTQ+特定教育的时长最多(M = 6.63,标准差 = 1.98),其次是心理学(M = 5.30,标准差 = 3.54)、医学(M = 5.12,标准差 = 3.38)、护理(M = 4.17,标准差 = 3.28)以及其他健康领域的学员(M = 3.88,标准差 = 2.47)。在所有学科中,学员对他们的LGBTQ+特定教育平均评价为“良好”。尽管意识有所提高,但在所有测量的学科和美国各地区,专门针对LGBTQ+的教育在数量和质量上仍然低得令人担忧。未来的研究必须调查各种策略,以克服在医疗保健专业培训中增加LGBTQ+教育的常见障碍,通过将LGBTQ+内容整合到现有材料中、支持学员领导力以及为教授LGBTQ+内容的教育工作者提供机构支持,来最大限度地利用有限的时间产生影响。监管机构必须重新考虑当前关于LGBTQ+教育数量和质量的指导意见,为机构提供最佳实践指南,以便让学员为照顾LGBTQ+患者做好准备。