Strategies to Bring Transgender and Non-binary Health Care into Pharmacy Education.

Research has shown an increase in the number of people in the United States identifying as transgender and non-binary (TNB) . Many pharmacy schools and colleges do not offer any instruction specific to students interacting with and caring for TNB people, and practicing pharmacists have reported a lack of confidence in managing TNB patients. Regardless of the practice setting they choose, there is an increased likelihood that pharmacy graduates will serve TNB patients. Pharmacy schools that include TNB-specific education in their Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum will equip graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills to support this vulnerable population. The purpose of this commentary is to suggest methods for incorporating TNB-related material into pharmacy curricula and to provide resources for developing content.

A cross-sectional survey evaluating transgender-related care education in United States pharmacy school curricula.

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study are to evaluate the extent of transgender-related care in current pharmacy school curricula, identify where transgender-related care is covered in the curriculum, describe how the content is delivered to pharmacy students, and review how student knowledge of transgender-related care is evaluated. METHODS: This cross-sectional study utilized an online survey of curricular contacts of 142 pharmacy schools in the United States. Survey questions regarding transgender-related care were presented as multiple choice, ranking, and free-response. The survey inquired about transgender-related care information taught, teaching methods, hours of education, and student assessment. RESULTS: Of the 66 schools that responded to the survey, 53% indicated that transgender-related education is a topic that is currently addressed somewhere within the curriculum. Twenty-two pharmacy schools incorporate this topic into the didactic curriculum, two into the experiential curriculum, and 10 into both didactic and experiential. Transgender-related care is only taught in the required curriculum of 41.2% of schools that responded to the survey. CONCLUSION: Transgender-related care education is taught to variable degrees throughout US doctor of pharmacy programs. This study should serve as a call to action to incorporate this necessary transgender-related care education and training into pharmacy curricula to effectively reduce health disparities among this population that is increasingly seeking care.