Need to integrate trans-inclusive science in medical education, says study

NEW DELHI: As transgender people in India routinely face discrimination in health care, often encountering prejudice and ignorance from medical providers, the need of the hour is that India’s medical curricula integrate trans-inclusive science early in medical training so that the medical needs of transgender people are met, said the study published in the American journal Advances in Physiology Education.

Not only in India, but globally, many medical schools dedicate few to no hours to LGBT health. Concerned by discrimination in healthcare and education, despite the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which prohibits it, a first-of-its-kind study was conducted, bringing fresh hope – at least for India – if it is incorporated into medical education.

In India, the National Medical Commission (NMC), which regulates medical education, has failed to adequately address LGBT health, said Dr Satendra Singh, Director Professor of the Department of Physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, and one of the study’s authors.

“Unfortunately, the NMC has made repeated U-turns on including LGBTQI content in the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum, first in 2019 and again in 2024,” Dr Singh told this paper.

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