"Clinical Exposure Key To Closing Education Gap In Transgender Care" - Jennifer Byrne
Substantial strides have been made in physician education and cultural competency in caring for transgender patients, but gaps remain in the areas of familiarity and comfort with this population, according to Joshua Safer, MD, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery and senior faculty member of endocrinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “It’s been known for a number of years now that when asked to describe the barriers to transgender care, the No. 1 problem isn’t insurance, or any of those other issues you might expect,” said Dr. Safer. “It’s a lack of physicians who know what they’re doing.” When students learn about endocrinology and hormones, the curriculum addresses hormone therapy for transgender patients. For each section in the curriculum, Dr. Safer said, he began to see improvement in the students’ comfort level.
- Joshua Safer, MD, Executive Director of The Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai, Senior Faculty, Endocrinology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai