Assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of graduating medical students towards sexual health in Lebanon

Abstract

Sexual Health is defined by WHO 1 as "a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality." The same working definition states that the ability to achieve proper sexual health is dependent, among other factors, on having access to sexual health care. 1 The world is currently witnessing an alarmingly high burden of discrepancies related to sexuality and sexual health, including lack of access to pregnancy planning and contraception, high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unsafe abortions, intimate partner violence (IPV), dismissal of bodily rights, as well as gender and LGBTQ discrimination. 2 There is an urgent need to address these topics due to their significant implications on overall health. 2 Presently, healthcare providers lack adequate clinical foundations in matters of sexual health and require additional training to improve their ability to broach topics considered to be sensitive with their patients. [3][4][5] Despite the growing medical literature pertaining to the topic of sexual health, only a few studies have comprehensively investigated the adequacy of graduating physicians' medical training in being able