Educating Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents on Transgender Patients: A Survey of Program Directors

Objective To describe education on transgender health provided by obstetrics and gynecology residency programs and to identify the facilitators and barriers to providing this training. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey to evaluate transgender health education in residency among a representative sample of 100 of the 236 obstetrics and gynecology residency programs listed in the 2015 Electronic Residency Application Service catalogue. We compared programs that did and did not offer transgender education on demographics, presence and type of transgender education offered, and reasons for and barriers to offering transgender health education using χ or Fisher's exact testing. Results We found that 31 out of 61 (51%, 95% CI 38-64%) programs completing the survey offered transgender health education in residency. Compared with programs that offered no education, residency programs offering education were more likely to report that transgender health education was very important (19/31, 61% [95% CI 42-78%] vs 7/30, 23% [95% CI 9-42%]), resident interest (20/31, 64% [95% CI 45-81%] vs 11/30, 37% [95% CI 20-56%]), and the presence of a transgender population requesting services (28/31 or 90% [95% CI 74-98%] vs 16/30 or 53% [95% CI 34-72%]). Among the 31 programs that offered transgender health education, 30 (97%; 95% CI 83-99%) provided formal didactic sessions and 20 (64%; 95% CI 45-81%) offered health screening for both male-to-female and female-to-male transgender patients, but 17 (55%; 95% CI 36-73%) did not offer gender-affirming hormone therapy. Among the 30 programs that did not currently offer transgender health education, 24 (80%; 95% CI 61-92%) planned to establish a transgender education program in the next year. Conclusion Our survey of obstetrics and gynecology residency programs highlights the interest in transgender health education for a systemically underserved population of patients.