New Study Shows Urology Residents Lacking Preparedness and Knowledge in LGBTQ+ Care

According to a recent pilot study, many urology residents lack the necessary knowledge and preparedness to provide adequate care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and all gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ+) patients. The study, published in the journal Urology Practice, found that urology residents do not receive enough LGBTQ+ education and have limited experience in caring for transgender patients. The study was conducted by Dr. Dustin Nowaskie, Founder & President of OutCare Health, and Samuel Garrison from Indiana University School of Medicine. These findings reveal an alarming disparity in the quality of healthcare provided to LGBTQ+ patients in the field of urology.

Conducted between August and September 2022, the study surveyed urology residents from 13 unique programs across the United States. The results showed that urology residents received low annual amounts of LGBTQ+ curricular hours and had moderate scores on a validated clinical skills scale. Urology residents reported significantly higher positive attitudes than preparedness and knowledge, and they conveyed having less experience working with and less competence assessing transgender patients compared to lesbian, gay, and bisexual patients.

The study highlights the importance of having specific training and education in LGBTQ+ healthcare for urology providers. Historically, there have been very few articles examining the state of LGBTQ+ health in urology residency programs. In 2016, despite 75% of urology residents indicating that training in gender-affirming surgeries is important, only 50% of urology residents had received exposure to transgender health.