Queering Medicine and Health Education

clock in brotherton library

Queering Medicine and Health Education: A Rapid Review to Support Joyful Representation if LGBTQIA+ People Within the MBChB

Amy Wilson, supervised by Bridgette Bewick, Andrew Walker, and Charlie Scarff

About the student researcher

I'm Amy and I'm a 4th Year Medical Student returning to the course after intercalating in MA Biomedical and Healthcare Ethics. Having written my master's dissertation on transgender healthcare, worked for a national LGBT+ charity and presented with the Thackray Museum on a similar topic, I'm very aware of the issues LGBTQIA+ people face in the UK. I'm really pleased to have been able to research how these topics are taught to medical students and how medical education can begin to realistically combat the health inequalities faced by LGBTQIA+ patients.

A headshot of Amy Wilson

Project overview

This project aimed to support the diversification of LGBTQIA+ representation in medicine and health education. I focused my work on the MBChB but the findings are useful for other healthcare courses. I spent the summer undertaking two scoping reviews of the literature. The first explored health inequalities affecting LGBTQIA+ patients and the representation of these inequalities in the curriculum. The second review scoped ways in which healthcare courses can develop more inclusive LGBTQIA+ educational practices and thereby contribute to delivering more just healthcare and reduce health inequalities, including more joyful LGBTQIA+ representation. From these scoping reviews, we developed a checklist to support staff to reflect on LGBTQIA+ representation. We also collated a set of resources to support staff who identify opportunities for curriculum change within their module. I hope this project will increase the representation of LGBTQIA+ experiences in the MBChB, will allow students to build their confidence in addressing the health needs of the LGBTQIA+ community, and will support the creation of new strands of research.

If you are interested in finding out about the project findings, please contact the project supervisor.