Medical students' perception of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) discrimination in their learning environment and their self-reported comfort level for caring for LGBT patients: a survey study.
Med Educ Online
; 22(1): 1368850, 2017.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28853327
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Historically, medical students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) report higher rates of social stress, depression, and anxiety, while LGBT patients have reported discrimination and poorer access to healthcare.OBJECTIVE:
The objectives of this study were (1) to assess if medical students have perceived discrimination in their learning environment and; (2) to determine self-reported comfort level for caring for LGBT patients.DESIGN:
Medical students at the University of Ottawa (N = 671) were contacted via email and invited to complete a confidential web-based survey.RESULTS:
Response rate was 15.4% (103/671). This included 66 cis-gender heterosexuals (64.1%) and 37 LGBT students (35.9%). Anti-LGBT discrimination had been witnessed by 14.6% and heterosexism by 31.1% of respondents. Anti-LGBT discrimination most often originated from fellow medical students. Respondents who self-identified as LGBT were more likely to have perceived heterosexism (favoring opposite-sex relationships) (OR = 8.2, p < 0.001) or anti-LGBT discrimination (OR = 6.6, p = 0.002). While half of LGBT students shared their status with all classmates (51.4%), they were more likely to conceal this from staff physicians (OR = 27.2, p = 0.002). Almost half of medical students (41.7%) reported anti-LGBT jokes, rumors, and/or bullying by fellow medical students and/or other members of the healthcare team. Still, most respondents indicated that they felt comfortable with and capable of providing medical care to LGBT patients (≥83.5%), and were interested in further education around LGBT health issues (84.5%).CONCLUSION:
Anti-LGBT discrimination and heterosexism are noted by medical students, indicating a suboptimal learning environment for LGBT students. Nonetheless, students report a high level of comfort and confidence providing health care to LGBT patients.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Estudantes de Medicina
/
Sexualidade
/
Educação de Graduação em Medicina
/
Discriminação Social
/
Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Aspecto:
Equity_inequality
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Med Educ Online
Assunto da revista:
EDUCACAO
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá