Transgender Healthcare: Caring for Trans Patients (FutureLearn)

Understanding transgender discrimination in healthcare

Trans people face discrimination in our National Healthcare System (NHS), a problem that can be partially attributed to the fact that there isn’t specific transgender healthcare training for healthcare professionals or healthcare students.

Healthcare professionals are often not aware of how best to approach and work with trans patients, which results in trans people receiving a lower standard of care.

Diving into this transgender healthcare training course

Alongside experts at St George’s, University of London, you’ll enhance your skills in different areas.

Initially, you’ll be exposed to common terms used by the trans community, exploring the process of transition from a social and legal perspective and analysing transgender healthcare in the UK.

You’ll learn more about specific issues in transgender healthcare and the various areas of gender-affirming healthcare.

At the final stages of the course, you’ll focus on consolidating your learning from the first three weeks to develop effective and sensitive ways to communicate with trans people using affirming and inclusive language. As well as identifying ways to make the organisations you work and study in more trans-inclusive.

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to transgender healthcare

Week 2: Trans-specific healthcare considerations

Week 3: Trans-inclusive communication and service provision

Week 4: Culturally competent clinical communication

Learning on this course

You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

- Identify common terms used by the trans community and be able to apply affirming language while working with trans people.

- Explore the concepts of social and legal transition in a healthcare setting.

- Summarise current recommendations for the treatment of trans patients.

- Identify specific barriers that trans people face when accessing healthcare.

- Explore the health concerns of trans patients in a way that is both effective and respectful.

- Apply the knowledge gained throughout this course in the development of healthcare services that are more trans-inclusive.
Who is the course for?

This course is designed for all healthcare students, as well as current NHS doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals within the UK. Non-UK based learners are welcome to join the course but should be aware, that this course reflects the UK healthcare context. Learners practicing outside of the UK are therefore strongly encouraged to source local policies and guidance.