Date of Award

8-9-2024

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

MS in Physician Assistant Studies (PA)

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

First Advisor

Vanessa Bester

Abstract

Background: Historically LGBTQ+ people have encountered discrimination in the world of medicine, and often providers are sometimes unaware of how to manage medical issues of these patients. In order to best serve queer and trans patients, a more coherent, consistent curriculum needs to be established so that all medical professions are capable of giving high quality treatment to these patients. Physician assistants (PAs) are advanced practice providers who take care of LGBTQ+ patients on a daily basis and are trained under a similar model as physicians. PA programs must also be up to date on the most culturally sensitive ways to care for the queer community to help increase access to these patients.

Purpose: All PA programs differ in the level of teachings about queer healthcare as there are no nationally established standards for this professional school. It is important to begin the conversation about standardizations so that all PA schools are equipping their students to be able to treat people in the LGBTQ+ community. This study hopes to create a conversation about queer healthcare through the lens of PAs and challenge other medical professional programs to query their own curriculum on the matter.

Methods: This study performed an audit of the Augsburg University PA program’s LGBTQ+ related content compared to national competencies 4 created for medical schools. Each competency was analyzed and ranked as “met,” “partially met,” or “not met.” The results were then compiled onto a document for the PA program to utilize and improve their current curriculum. Results: It was discovered that the Augsburg PA program learning objectives fully fulfilled 12 competencies, partially fulfilled 14 competencies, and did not fulfil 4 competencies. Many of the competencies that were partially met or not met were related to the field of pediatric queer medicine, differences in sex development (DSD), or queer policy change in healthcare. The literature revealed there is little known about the current teachings of queer health in PA schools. Additionally, the nationally recognized organizations for PA schools have very broad recommendations for gender and sexual minority (GSM) content, leaving the possibility of programs to include as much or as little as they choose in their curriculum.

Conclusion: A call for more specific and measurable competencies for PA schools to follow for LGBTQ+ health topics is being made so that each school has a way to audit themselves. Actions that fellow PA educators can take include performing an audit of their curriculum, developing updated competencies specific to PA school, or discussing the intricacies of their curriculum with LGBTQ+ students and staff. This could help ensure that more PAs in this generation will have the confidence and competence to handle the needs of queer and trans patients.

Identifier

SC 11.PAS.2024.Kuchar.A.

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