Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?

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dc.contributor.authorde Vries, Elma
dc.contributor.authorKathard, Harsha
dc.contributor.authorMüller, Alex
dc.date.accessioned2020-02-18T10:33:45Z
dc.date.available2020-02-18T10:33:45Z
dc.date.issued2020-02-14
dc.date.updated2020-02-16T05:00:46Z
dc.description.abstractBackground Every person who seeks health care should be affirmed, respected, understood, and not judged. However, trans and gender diverse people have experienced significant marginalization and discrimination in health care settings. Health professionals are generally not adequately prepared by current curricula to provide appropriate healthcare to trans and gender diverse people. This strongly implies that health care students would benefit from curricula which facilitate learning about gender-affirming health care. Main body Trans and gender diverse people have been pathologized by the medical profession, through classifications of mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Disease (ICD). Although this is changing in the new ICD-11, tension remains between depathologization discourses and access to gender-affirming health care. Trans and gender diverse people experience significant health disparities and an increased burden of disease, specifically in the areas of mental health, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, violence and victimisation. Many of these health disparities originate from discrimination and systemic biases that decrease access to care, as well as from health professional ignorance. This paper will outline gaps in health science curricula that have been described in different contexts, and specific educational interventions that have attempted to improve awareness, knowledge and skills related to gender-affirming health care. The education of primary care providers is critical, as in much of the world, specialist services for gender-affirming health care are not widely available. The ethics of the gatekeeping model, where service providers decide who can access care, will be discussed and contrasted with the informed-consent model that upholds autonomy by empowering patients to make their own health care decisions. Conclusion There is an ethical imperative for health professionals to reduce health care disparities of trans and gender diverse people and practice within the health care values of social justice and cultural humility. As health science educators, we have an ethical duty to include gender-affirming health in health science curricula in order to prevent harm to the trans and gender diverse patients that our students will provide care for in the future.
dc.identifier.apacitationde Vries, E., Kathard, H., & Müller, A. (2020). Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?. <i>BMC Medical Education</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31157en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationde Vries, Elma, Harsha Kathard, and Alex Müller "Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?." <i>BMC Medical Education</i> (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31157en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationde Vries, E., Kathard, H., & Müller, A. (2020). Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?. BMC Medical Education, 20(1), 1-10.
dc.identifier.ris TY - AU - de Vries, Elma AU - Kathard, Harsha AU - Müller, Alex AB - Background Every person who seeks health care should be affirmed, respected, understood, and not judged. However, trans and gender diverse people have experienced significant marginalization and discrimination in health care settings. Health professionals are generally not adequately prepared by current curricula to provide appropriate healthcare to trans and gender diverse people. This strongly implies that health care students would benefit from curricula which facilitate learning about gender-affirming health care. Main body Trans and gender diverse people have been pathologized by the medical profession, through classifications of mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Disease (ICD). Although this is changing in the new ICD-11, tension remains between depathologization discourses and access to gender-affirming health care. Trans and gender diverse people experience significant health disparities and an increased burden of disease, specifically in the areas of mental health, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, violence and victimisation. Many of these health disparities originate from discrimination and systemic biases that decrease access to care, as well as from health professional ignorance. This paper will outline gaps in health science curricula that have been described in different contexts, and specific educational interventions that have attempted to improve awareness, knowledge and skills related to gender-affirming health care. The education of primary care providers is critical, as in much of the world, specialist services for gender-affirming health care are not widely available. The ethics of the gatekeeping model, where service providers decide who can access care, will be discussed and contrasted with the informed-consent model that upholds autonomy by empowering patients to make their own health care decisions. Conclusion There is an ethical imperative for health professionals to reduce health care disparities of trans and gender diverse people and practice within the health care values of social justice and cultural humility. As health science educators, we have an ethical duty to include gender-affirming health in health science curricula in order to prevent harm to the trans and gender diverse patients that our students will provide care for in the future. DA - 2020-02-14 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Medical Education KW - Transgender KW - Trans and gender diverse KW - Health disparities KW - Pathologisation KW - Gender-affirming health care KW - Social justice KW - Health science education LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2020 T1 - Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula? TI - Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula? UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31157 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-1963-6
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/31157
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationde Vries E, Kathard H, Müller A. Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?. BMC Medical Education. 2020; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31157.en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.rights.holderThe Author(s).
dc.sourceBMC Medical Education
dc.source.urihttps://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/
dc.subjectTransgender
dc.subjectTrans and gender diverse
dc.subjectHealth disparities
dc.subjectPathologisation
dc.subjectGender-affirming health care
dc.subjectSocial justice
dc.subjectHealth science education
dc.titleDebate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?
dc.typeJournal Article
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