Bharucha, Kaljo, Hanks co-author study in Wisconsin Medical Journal

Members of the UW Department recently authored an article published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal. Authors include ob-gyn resident Kharmen Bharucha, MD,PGY-4; Kristina Kaljo, PhD, associate professor in the UW Department of Ob-Gyn; Laura Hanks, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn; and Tess Jewell, MD, MPH.

In “The Physician’s Duty to Care for Others: Resistance Against Evidence-Based Gender-Affirming Care Among Physician Trainees,” the authors explored first-year resident physician attitudes toward gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care (GAC) is an evidence-based form of medicine but is increasingly under threat across the country. First-year residents in obstetrics and gynecology, urology, plastic surgery, family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics in the United States were invited to participate in a survey and qualitative responses to an open-text question were analyzed inductively to identify themes. The authors found that:

“... some residents hold biases that could negatively impact the care provided to [transgender and gender-diverse] patients. Some questioned the philosophical foundations of gender, others doubted the evidence base for GAC, and one disapproved based on religious beliefs. Prior research based on patient perspectives has demonstrated the need for clinician education on TGD health. Our findings echo this need and build upon this literature by incorporating the perspectives of physicians in training. Taken together, both patients and clinicians identify TGD health as an essential educational topic.”

Read the whole article here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya