Abstract
Background Recent advocacy efforts and expanded insurance coverage has increased health care
utilization among transgender patients. Therefore, it is pivotal that surgical residents
are properly trained to care for transgender patients in both clinical and surgical
settings. Yet, no formal curriculum or training requirements exist for surgical residents.
The aim of this systematic review is to understand the surgical trainee's postgraduate
education and training with respect to transgender health and gender-affirming surgeries
(GAS).
Methods A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA)-compliant
literature search was performed on December 04, 2020 in PubMed, Elsevier Embase, and
Wiley Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The retrieved hits were screened
and reviewed by two independent reviewers.
Results Our literature search identified 186 unique publications, of which 14 surveys and
one interventional study from various surgical specialties including plastic surgery,
urology, otolaryngology, oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS), dermatology, and obstetrics
and gynecology (OBGYN) were included in this study. The majority of residents and
program directors in surgical specialties believe education related to transgender
health is important, and the current exposure in surgical training does not sufficiently
prepare surgical residents to care for this marginalized population.
Conclusion Current postgraduate surgical training in gender-affirming surgery is nonuniform
across surgical specialty, geographical region, and individual program. Incorporating
training modules and hands-on experiences into surgical trainee education will better
prepare residents for the numerous clinical and surgical interactions with transgender
patients. Further research is required to better understand how to best incorporate
these experiences into existing surgical curriculums.
Keywords
surgical education - transgender persons - gender-affirming surgery - residency
