Abstract
Educating trainee healthcare practitioners about transgender healthcare has been neglected globally, and nationally in Aotearoa New Zealand. Reasons for this oversight are only just beginning to come clear. Recent research reveals that healthcare practitioners often have a strong interest in learning about transgender healthcare but lack the knowledge and confidence to be able to teach this topic and cultivate the associated values of healthcare practitioners. There is also a lack of research about the most effective ways to teach trainee healthcare practitioners about relevant aspects of transgender healthcare. This issue is pressing, because transgender people frequently endure unmet mental and physical health needs directly related to a lack of access to welcoming, effective healthcare, even where unrelated to processes of gender transition. Aotearoa New Zealand thus seems at a critical juncture in increasing teacher education and student learning about the routine and specific healthcare needs of transgender people. We need to address this persistent educational gap, even out inequalities in health outcomes for transgender people and, in Aotearoa New Zealand, we can potentially lead the way in this field. We can: (1) commit specific curriculum space to transgender health issues; (2) research effective, specific teaching practice on this topic; (3) develop teacher practice around knowledge, confidence and values to deliver the best teaching for trainee healthcare practitioners. Teachers of healthcare practitioners need to set high standards for transgender healthcare education, and further research is needed to establish the best approach for such provision.
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Gamble Blakey, A., Treharne, G.J. Overcoming Barriers to Transgender Healthcare Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ J Educ Stud 54, 357–366 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-019-00143-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-019-00143-2