Incorporating Sex and Gender into Culturally Competent Simulation in Medical Education

Background and Objectives: Simulation provides a vehicle to introduce sex and gender competent training into the education of medical trainees. Materials and Methods: Using the previously validated Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Sex and Gender Specific Health PubMed Advanced Search Tool, we reviewed the existing sex- and gender-based medical simulation education literature. A single article specifically addressed the incorporation of sex- and gender-based medicine in the development of simulation-based training. The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Sex and Gender Interest Group then collaboratively developed recommendations for the incorporation of these concepts into simulation training. Results: Collaboratively developed recommendations were as follows. Knowledge-based competency in sex- and gender-based medicine involves understanding the relevant key terminology. Attitude-based competencies include an understanding of tendencies toward bias in patient assessment and care, which can be addressed in the self-reflection component of a simulation debrief. Skill-based competencies include communication skills, assessing the social context in which a patient is pursuing medical care, and recognition of gender-based cultural models of health and disease. Successful implementation includes specific faculty development, administrative and financial resources, gender-specific simulation equipment and selection of standardized patients, and scenarios that address sex- and gender-based medical care. Conclusion: The adoption of sex and gender competent simulation has the potential to significantly impact medical training and the provision of empathetic and humanistic care while reducing sex- and gender-based health care disparities.