Current gaps and ideological trends in physician understanding of LGBTQ+ healthcare and its delivery in London, Ontario

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Purpose Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities have unique healthcare needs that often go unmet. LGBTQ+ patients report higher levels of satisfaction with and are more likely to seek care from providers who possess knowledge of and demonstrate comfort with LGBTQ+ healthcare issues. We sought to determine knowledge of, comfort with, and perceived barriers to providing equitable LGBTQ+ care amongst physicians in London, ON. Methods Anonymous online surveys were distributed to roughly 2400 full- and part-time physicians at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Co-investigators independently coded forty-two surveys and conducted a theoretical thematic analysis. Results Physicians were categorized according to their beliefs about the unique health needs of LGBTQ+ populations and the degree to which they possessed corresponding knowledge. Seventeen physicians (42%) believed that LGBTQ+ populations have unique needs and possessed knowledge, sixteen (38%) believed that LGBTQ+ populations have unique needs but lacked knowledge, and nine (21%) denied the existence of unique needs. Across all respondents, competence was lacking in three domains: transgender healthcare, responding to LGBTQ+ identity disclosure, and knowledge of systemic inequities faced by LGBTQ+ communities. Conclusions These findings elucidate knowledge gaps amongst a representative sample of physicians and present opportunities for targeted educational intervention to improve LGBTQ+ care.