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State of educational modalities employed in gender-affirming surgery amongst surgical residencies

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Global Surgical Education - Journal of the Association for Surgical Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To characterize the current state of educational modalities employed within surgical training programs in the field of gender-affirming surgery, summarize the modalities utilized, and propose recommendations for installation and improvement of surgical education on gender-affirming surgery.

Background

The current state of education must first be evaluated to better understand methods attempted, present voids and gaps, and resident attitude towards plans for improvement in surgical education in this field to address the rising demand for gender-affirming surgery and enable surgical residents involved in care of GAS across various subspecialties to provide sensitive, informed, and educated care.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted. Data extraction included title, research question, data collection technique, sample size, sample characteristic, teaching modalities utilized, relevance, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and conclusion.

Results

The study includes ten qualifying reports. 7 studies included data from residents of urology, obstetrics and gynecology, plastics, ENT, and oral and maxillofacial surgery residents. The remaining three studies reported results from program directors of urology, obstetrics and gynecology, plastics, and surgical dermatology programs. Reports of didactic educational programs amongst the described studies were unclear and inexplicit. There is limited structured exposure to the care of transgender people. Simulation-based experiences structured on gender-affirming surgery curricula can significantly improve surgical trainee understanding and knowledge.

Conclusion

Robust curricula involving didactic, clinical, and competency-based evaluation models are recommended to be designed and implement in surgical training programs seeking to care for GAS patients. Department and residency cultural competence didactics and clinical measures may be established to streamline subjects surrounding TGNC patient care. Additional efforts to establish dedicated LGBT and TGNC clinics, as well as an increased effort towards interdepartmental collaboration and exposure could enhance resident education.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dr. Devin O'Brien-Coon for his feedback provided on an early draft of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

    Mohammad Mousavian & Kavitha Ranganathan

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA

    Mohammad Mousavian

  3. Craniofacial Reconstruction, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA

    Kavitha Ranganathan

  4. MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, USA

    Anshul Kumar

Authors
  1. Mohammad Mousavian
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  2. Kavitha Ranganathan
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  3. Anshul Kumar
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Contributions

MM: conception and design, data collection, writing the article, performing revisions. KR: critical revisions. AK: design, critical revisions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Mousavian.

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The authors have not disclosed any competing interests.

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Mousavian, M., Ranganathan, K. & Kumar, A. State of educational modalities employed in gender-affirming surgery amongst surgical residencies. Global Surg Educ 1, 57 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44186-022-00065-6

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