Objective:

To demonstrate the benefit of implementing curriculum on gender minorities, gender affirming care, and neurology into graduate medical education. 

Background:

Individuals who identify as transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) are at higher risk for a number of neurological conditions, including cerebrovascular disease, headache, and seizures. Despite this, studies have shown that limited exposure to transgender health education persists in undergraduate and graduate medical curriculum in the United States and Canada, with large variability based on region and specialty. Neurology is one such field with gaps in TGD health-related graduate medical education.

Design/Methods:

Neurology trainees at an urban academic center were administered a 13-question survey with self-assessments on their knowledge of neurologic care for the TGD community. The questionnaire included a self-rated 5-point scale with an array of questions including, but not limited to, general knowledge of gender-affirming care, neurology-specific knowledge regarding conditions related to gender-affirming care, health inequities and related barriers to care among the TGD population, and TGD health-related medicolegal issues. The trainees then attended a half day of educational lectures on trauma-informed care, pharmacology, and options for gender-affirming care, with emphasis on the intersection between TGD healthcare and neurology. The trainees then completed a post-survey with the same questions. 

Results:

Neurology trainees demonstrated an improvement in their self-rating scores after three educational sessions of transgender care in neurology. The categories that showed the greatest improvement were the following: general knowledge of gender-affirming care (3 points), neurology-specific knowledge regarding conditions related to gender-affirming care (2.5 points), and knowledge of the TGD health-related medico-legal issues(2.9 points).

Conclusions:

Instruction on care for the transgender and gender diverse community in neurology demonstrates some benefit in neurological trainee medical education, particularly in trainees’ perceptions of their own knowledge base  when working with this population.