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Adreak N, Mackay MH, Pike A, O’Neill C, Sterling E, Randhawa V, Comber L, Thompson K, Srivaratharajah K, Paquin A, Abramson BL, Mullen KA. Integration of Women's Cardiovascular Health Content Into Healthcare Provider Education: Results of a Rapid Review and National Survey. CJC Open 2024; 6:463-472. [PMID: 38487051 PMCID: PMC10935693 DOI: 10.1016/j.cjco.2023.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite its importance, formal education in healthcare training programs on sex- and gender-specific cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, symptoms, treatment, and outcomes is lacking. We completed rapid reviews of the academic and grey literature to describe the current state of women-specific CVD education in medical, nursing, and other healthcare education programs. Second, we analyzed results from a Canada-wide survey of healthcare professional education programs to identify gaps in curricula related to sex- and gender-specific training in CVD. Our academic review yielded only 15 peer-reviewed publications, and our online search only 20 healthcare education programs, that note that they specifically address women, or sex and gender, and CVD in their curricula. Across both searches, the majority of training and education programs were from the USA, varied greatly in length, delivery mode, and content covered, and lacked consistency in evaluation. Of surveys sent to 213 Canadian universities and other entry-to-practice programs, 80 complete responses (37.6%) were received. A total of 47 respondents (59%) reported that their programs included women-specific CVD content. Among those programs without content specific to CVD in women, 69.0% stated that its inclusion would add "quite a bit" or "a great deal" of value to the program. This study highlights the emerging focus on and substantial gaps in women-specific CVD training and education across healthcare education programs. All medical, nursing, and healthcare training programs are implored to incorporate sex- and gender-based CVD content into their regular curricula as part of a consolidated effort to minimize gaps in cardiovascular care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Najah Adreak
- Division Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Martha H. Mackay
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - April Pike
- Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Nursing, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Carley O’Neill
- School of Kinesiology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Evan Sterling
- Library, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Varinder Randhawa
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Department of Cardiology, St Michael’s Hospital; and Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lisa Comber
- Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Keshandi Thompson
- Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kajenny Srivaratharajah
- Division Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Amélie Paquin
- Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Quebec—Universite Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
| | - Beth L. Abramson
- Division of Cardiology, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kerri-Anne Mullen
- Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Anderson NN, Gagliardi AR. Medical student exposure to women's health concepts and practices: a content analysis of curriculum at Canadian medical schools. BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION 2021; 21:435. [PMID: 34407817 PMCID: PMC8371837 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02873-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Women's health (WH) includes a broad array of concerns and challenges that affect health across the lifespan. Considerable research shows that women continue to experience disparities in access to and quality of care. Apart from surveys of medical trainees and faculty, little research and none in Canada examined medical curriculum for WH. This study assessed how Canadian medical schools integrate WH in their curriculum. METHODS We used deductive and summative content analysis to describe instances and the nature of WH topics in program and course descriptions that were publicly-available on web sites of Canadian medical schools. We reported results using summary statistics and text examples. We employed a framework, tested in our prior research, that included mention of women's health principles and practices relevant to any health concern or condition including factors (e.g. sex, gender, social determinants) that influence health, and access to or quality of care. RESULTS We retrieved 1459 documents from 16 medical schools (median 49.5, range 16 to 301). Few mentioned WH (125, 8.6 %), and the quantity of mentions varied by school (range 0.0-37.5 %). Pre-clerkship course documents more frequently mentioned WH (61/374, 17.3 %, chi square 43.2, p < 0.00001) compared with clerkship course documents (58/1067, 5.4 %). Core course documents more frequently mentioned WH (72/542, 13.3 %, chi square 29.0, p < 0.00001) compared with elective course documents WH (47/899, 5.2 %). Overall, documents more frequently referred to the WH domain of social determinants of health (88, 70.4 %). Few documents addressed women's health (21, 16.8 %), sex or gender (19, 15.2 %), other considerations (15.2 %) or principles/components of women's health (2, 1.6 %). Most documents that mentioned WH provided little detail about what those concepts referred to or how to optimize WH. CONCLUSIONS Based on program and course descriptions, WH may not be well-integrated at Canadian medical schools, and future physicians may not be consistently exposed to the full breadth of WH. This reveals opportunities for enhancing WH in the medical curriculum. Future research is needed to engage stakeholders including women in developing, implementing and evaluating competencies and corresponding curriculum that reflect the full range of WH concepts and practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie N Anderson
- Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, 200 Elizabeth Street. 13EN-228, M5G2C4, Toronto, Canada
| | - Anna R Gagliardi
- Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, 200 Elizabeth Street. 13EN-228, M5G2C4, Toronto, Canada.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apoorva Kumar
- St George's, University of London, Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education, London, UK
| | - Jai Mathur
- St George's, University of London, Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education, London, UK
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