Transgender health education for pharmacy students and its effect on student knowledge and attitudes.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Increased student pharmacist education on health issues and concerns of the underserved Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) population is needed. We incorporated pharmacy-specific, transgender-focused education into the curriculum and sought to identify whether pharmacy students' knowledge and attitudes towards LGBTQ individuals were affected by (1) required online module or in-class lecture and (2) student demographics. Educational activity and setting: Pharmacy student attitudes and perceptions towards transgender individuals and the LGBTQ population were assessed before and after online (video) and in-person education using a modification of the Attitudes towards Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Patients Scale. Wilcoxon test for non-parametric paired data was used to test for statistically significant changes between the pre- and post-education surveys, while two-way analysis of variance was used to analyze correlations between student demographics and responses. FINDINGS: Changes in students' knowledge and attitudes were observed after exposure to either online or in-person education. Increases in students' perceived competence to provide care to patients identifying as LGBTQ were associated with both teaching methods. Significant demographic associations were seen with specific attitudes; female students and students who knew a transgender person were more likely to strongly disagree that discussing sexual behavior with LGBTQ patients is challenging. SUMMARY: Delivery of transgender-focused education produced observable changes in student pharmacist perceptions and attitudes towards working with the LGBTQ patient population. Demographic characteristics, such as being female or knowing a transgender individual, positively correlated with student pharmacists' feeling more comfortable discussing sexual behavior with LGBTQ persons.