An Elective Course in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health and Practice Issues

Abstract

Objective. To design, implement and assess a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health and practice elective course for second-and third-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. Methods. The course focused on health promotion, health care barriers, disease prevention, and treatment throughout an LGBT person's lifespan. The course included topic discussions, reading assignments, various active-learning activities, an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) with a transgender person, and guest speakers from the LGBT community. Five quizzes were administered during the course that were mapped to specific session learning objectives and course learning outcomes. Students completed an anonymous pre-and post-course survey on the seven course learning outcomes to assess their knowledge and skills regarding the health of LGBT people. Results. Students exhibited significant learning with improvement in the seven course learning outcomes. The two most improved course learning outcomes were the medications used for LGBT people and summarizing health care resources available to LGBT people. The content of student portfolios included general themes of discrimination, health care access problems, advocacy, inclusive pharmacy environments, and desire to be a better practitioner. More than 91% of the students actively engaged the guest speakers from the LGBT community. Student performance on quizzes and in the OSCE activity was excellent. The capstone presentations covered a variety of topics including LGBT in Islam. Conclusion. Students demonstrated knowledge of the unique health care issues among the LGBT community. This elective course provides a framework for other pharmacy programs to incorporate LGBT health topics into the curriculum and to engage with their local LGBT community.

A multicenter, multidisciplinary evaluation of 1701 healthcare professional students’ LGBT cultural competency: Comparisons between dental, medical, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and social work students

“…LGBT curricular education are important factors for healthcare professional students' cultural competency. This finding is akin to the few studies that have shown that curricular education can be effective in ameliorating LGBT-specific attitudes, preparedness, and knowledge among dental, [18] medical, [7,8] and pharmacy [19,20] students. As such, both local and national educational initiatives should advocate for these experiential variables.…”

Strategies for inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) education throughout pharmacy school curricula

“…18,40 One pharmacy program implemented objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) of hormone therapy with a transgender patient to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge in a safe environment. 23 Team-based learning may also be incorporated through case-based questions within a pharmacy skills-based laboratory course, but students may miss the opportunity to practice their individual counseling skills. 32 These practice-based activities may be coordinated with content taught in a therapeutics  Library of videos and resources for incorporating LGBTQIA+ health into medical school curricula LavenderHealth 46  Blog that provides free information that can be used across education programs and levels to introduce basic LGBTQ care concepts to students and practitioners  Includes sample active learning activities and syllabi Health professional best practices Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) [47][48][49] …”

“…Elective courses dedicated to this topic improved student knowledge and confidence in LGBTQIA+ content. 23,24,26 An elective course may allow for additional opportunities for active learning and ongoing exposure to the content over the course of a semester. 23,24,26 For example, students may participate in topic discussions, take part in counseling sessions with a transgender patient, and hear from guest speakers from the LGBTQIA+ community.…”

The Evolving Role of Pharmacists in Transgender Health Care

“…A total of 63 unique articles were initially retrieved, of which 15 specifically addressed issues directly relevant to the role of pharmacists in TG health care. 13,18–31 Additional references (one journal article 32 and five web-based articles 6,10,33–35 ) were identified by searching electronic databases (Google Scholar, Google, Science Direct, and Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews) and by manually searching the reference lists of identified articles. Other secondary searches (for various subsections) were also performed utilizing the terms transgender or gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder and epidemiology, etiology, disease management, diagnosis, cultural competency, pharmacotherapy, health care, human immunodeficiency virus, sexually transmitted disease, and antiretroviral therapy.…”

“…Recently, an elective two-credit course on LGBT health care was implemented at UNT System School of Pharmacy focusing on health promotion, identifying barriers to health care, and health care resources for LGBT persons (Table 2). 32 Several guest speakers from the LGBT community participated in the course. The comparison of the pre- vs. postcourse seven learning objectives (e.g., summarizing health care resources for LGBT persons) reported significant improvement ( p <0.001) in the students.…”