Abstract
Background: To determine effects of sexual health curriculum (SHC) in medical school and mentorship on future specialty/subspecialty selection, we sought to evaluate the experiences of urology trainees and practicing urologists. Methods: Residents, fellows, and practicing urologists completed a 15-question survey regarding their exposure to a SHC during medical school, topics covered, and the influence of mentors in their career choice. Summary statistics were used to identify trends based on survey responses. Results: Ninety-four respondents, primarily post-graduate training year 4 and 5 (46%), completed the survey. Approximately 50% recalled a dedicated SHC during medical school with 46% planning to pursue fellowship training in sexual medicine/reconstruction. Topics commonly covered included reproductive anatomy/physiology and sexual history-taking, while respondents rarely recalled topics such as sexual aids/toys and pornography. Only 25% felt their SHC provided an adequate fund of knowledge to address sexual health concerns in patients, and only 14% felt that exposure to a SHC influenced their decision to pursue urology. Individuals intending to pursue fellowship were more likely to have an attending mentor, a mentor with expertise in sexual dysfunction, and considered their mentor as important or very important in their decision to subspecialize (P<0.05). Conclusions: Most urology trainees do not have strong exposure to a SHC during medical school and cite mentorship as a more important role in the decision to pursue subspecialty training. These data support the need for a standardized formal SHC and continued exposure to sexual health experts during training to ensure continued interest in sexual medicine/reconstruction fellowship.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1071-1078 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Translational Andrology and Urology |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2023 |
Keywords
- Sexual health curriculum (SHC)
- education
- fellowship
- mentorship
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Reproductive Medicine
- Urology