Clegg, M., Pye, J. and Wylie, K.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-3805-105X (2016) Undergraduate Training in Human Sexuality-Evaluation of the Impact on Medical Doctors' Practice Ten Years After Graduation. Sexual Medicine, 4 (3). e198-e208.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: It has been suggested that an indicator of a doctor's ability to assess patients' sexual function relates to the level of earlier training. The amount and quality of training the doctor receives at the undergraduate level and beyond could contribute to the doctor's confidence and competence. AIMS: To evaluate whether doctors found that the teaching in human sexuality received at medical school was sufficient for their future practice and whether their chosen medical specialty and exposure to issues related to sexual health affected this opinion. METHODS: One hundred seventy doctors maintaining contact with the University of Sheffield Medical School Alumni Office after qualifying in 2004 were sent self-completion postal questionnaires. Space was allocated for supplementary comments to their answers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-completion postal questionnaire. RESULTS: Although the response rate was low, there appeared to be an impact of the teaching of human sexuality on the clinical practice of doctors. More than two-thirds of respondents rated the teaching as useful and more than 70% felt more confident in diagnosing and managing male and female sexual issues. CONCLUSION: The results show a link between the undergraduate teaching of sexual medicine and education and a subsequent proactive approach to sexuality issues; unfortunately, the study does not provide any information about the level of skills or ability in this field of medicine. We have confirmed that the Sheffield model might be suitable for teaching sexual medicine issues in the United Kingdom but cannot confirm that the current format is suitable for international undergraduate audiences. Future study could include other medical schools and a comparison of sexual medicine practice among physicians who received undergraduate medical education and overall numbers could be increased to compare current practice with the number of hours of sexual medicine education as a key parameter.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Clinical Practice; Evaluation Clinical Practice; Human Sexuality Sexual Issues; Medical School Education; Sexual Dysfunction; Sexual Medicine Teaching; Undergraduate Teaching |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > The Medical School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Sep 2016 11:26 |
Last Modified: | 07 Sep 2016 11:26 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2016.04.004 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.esxm.2016.04.004 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104459 |