“Sexual health is consistently not being prioritized by the healthcare system, the healthcare curricula, and healthcare professionals”
There are four reasons why we feel comprehensive sexual health education for healthcare practitioners is needed.
ONE: Lack of conversations in the patient-practitioner encounter
- Only 6% of healthcare practitioners initiate sexual health discussions on a frequent basis with their patients
- Discussions on sexual health with young adults lasts on average 36 seconds per healthcare visit
- Only 25% of primary care physicians take a patient’s sexual history
- Few as 25% of primary care physicians routinely ask patients about sexual well-being
TWO: Lack of comfort amongst healthcare practitioners
- Healthcare practitioners describe feeling “reluctant,” “reserved,” or “uncomfortable” when talking about sexual health
- 25% of doctors say they have expressed disapproval of patients’ sexual practices
- Healthcare practitioners indicate discomfort when discussing sexual health with patients of gender, racial, or ethnic groups that differ than their own
THREE: Lack of training amongst healthcare practitioners
- Many healthcare curricula devote little to no attention to sexual function, sexual dysfunction, female sexuality, and abortion
- 42% – 62% of medical students describe their training received on sexuality topics in medical school inadequate
- In Canada and the U.S, medical and nursing students receive on average 3.5 hours of content specific to 2SLGBTQIA+ populations
FOUR: Lack of adequate care, diagnosis and treatment for patients
- Female sexual dysfunction affects 43% of individuals, yet it continues to be one of the most under diagnosed medical condition
- PubMed has almost 5x as many clinical trials on sexual pleasure for people with penises as it has on sexual pain for people with vaginas
- Nearly a sixth of 2SLGBTQIA+ Americans have experienced discrimination at the doctor’s office or in another healthcare setting
