Addressing LGBTQ+ Health Disparities: A Training for Preclinical Medical Students
Project Type
Oral Presentation
Publication Date
4-15-2022
Department or Program
Psychological Science
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor #1
Erchull, Mindy
Abstract
The healthcare experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals is often fraught with discrimination. While awareness and education surrounding LGBTQ+ identities and social issues have improved within healthcare, discrimination is still an everyday occurrence for many LGBTQ+ individuals, with the lack of LGBTQ+ health education for providers a considerable contributing factor. Medical curriculum has slowly begun to incorporate educational material related to the LGBTQ+ community; however, there are a multitude of barriers preventing sufficient coverage of LGBTQ+ health issues, reducing the ability of healthcare providers to deliver culturally competent care. Given the difficulty of implementing curricular change, other solutions are needed to address the disparity. One possibility that deserves greater attention is peer education, an option found to be successful in a variety of subjects as well as addressing LGBTQ+ concerns in other contexts. Given the need for peer education programs to help to close the gap in LGBTQ+ health curriculum coverage, it is important to have such training programs readily available for students. These trainings can help to better prepare students for the diverse populations they will be caring for in clinical settings while also raising their own self-awareness of issues related to diversity. The culmination of this project was an annotated portfolio of educational materials that can be implemented in a peer education program for preclinical medical students. The series of workshops covers power and privilege, intersectionality, and applications of how physicians can provide culturally competent care for LGBTQ+ patients. In this presentation, I will provide a brief overview of my fall research as context for LGBTQ+ health and then will share an overview of my educational portfolio development.