What the Past Suggests About When a Diagnostic Label Is Oppressive.

Terminology describing transgender and gender diverse identities has evolved over the past 80 years, becoming progressively less pathologizing and less stigmatizing. While transgender health care no longer uses terms such as gender identity disorder or classifies gender dysphoria as a mental health condition, the term gender incongruence continues to be a source of oppression. An all-encompassing term, if one can be found, might be experienced by some as either empowering or abusive. This article draws on historical perspectives to suggest how clinicians might use diagnostic and intervention language that is harmful to patients.

Closing the gap in education: Raising medical professionals' knowledge and attitudes in transgender health.

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) health is a rapidly evolving, underserviced, and underresearched healthcare field. This chapter will provide a brief review of the research in TGD health and medical education and offer further areas of research and curriculum design.

Education Needs of Providers of Transgender Population.

The field of trans health is fast growing, interdisciplinary, and global. The education needs of providers are also growing to keep apace of this expanding discipline. Scant education on trans health is available in undergraduate and resident curricula, or continuing medical education. In addition to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's (WPATH) Standards of Care (SOC), Transgender Health Guidelines recently published by the Endocrine Society, WPATH has developed foundational and advanced educational programming in the areas of endocrinology and other specialties within interdisciplinary care. This article describes the history of transgender health care professional education and outlines the competencies related to this area.

Multidisciplinary Care and the Standards of Care for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals.

In providing care to transgender patients, surgeons interact with health care providers of other disciplines, including medical and mental health providers. Mental health or medical providers often see a patient first, when hormones are initiated. The Standards of Care recommend that mental health professionals assess patients for surgery according to set criteria and send surgeons their evaluations prior to surgery. Open communication is essential between surgical, medical, and mental health providers as well as with patients, who must give informed consent. A patient's multidisciplinary team can continue to provide care across a patient's life span.

What Surgeons Need to Know About Gender Confirmation Surgery When Providing Care for Transgender Individuals: A Review.

IMPORTANCE: In 2014, the US Department of Health and Human Services decided that its 1981 exclusion of transsexual surgical treatments from Medicare coverage was based on outdated, incomplete, and biased science and did not reflect current evidence or standards of care, and the exclusion was therefore lifted. As a direct result of this decision, surgeons nationwide are seeing an increase in consultations for surgical therapy to help transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. Although some clinicians may have the technical training for such surgical procedures, in many cases, they may not have a full understanding of the complex and comprehensive care required to provide optimal health care for transgender individuals. OBSERVATIONS: Gender confirmation surgery is a developing field in the United States and other areas of the world. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health started a global education initiative intended to provide surgeons and other health care professionals with the necessary background knowledge to understand and treat this patient population. This article provides an overview of best practices as set forth in the seventh edition of the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, including mental health, endocrinology, and surgery for trans women and trans men. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Experts in each aspect of transgender health have summarized the content of the global education initiative in this article. It provides valuable information to surgeons of all disciplines and other health care professionals to help guide the treatment and management of transgender individuals.

Past and Future Challenges Associated with Standards of Care for Gender Transitioning Clients.

This article defines a standard of care, describes their purpose in general, and then provides an overview of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People Version 7. After a brief history of the document, past and future challenges associated with these Standards including ideas moving forward into the eighth version are presented.