Training internists in women's health: Recommendations for educators

Abstract

Women's health represents an important and evolving dimension in patient care. Since internists provide primary as well as subspecialty care to adult women and, they must understand and act appropriately on the gender-specific aspects of patient care. Training in internal medicine should be broadened to include training in the reproductive as well as non-reproductive components of care and should foster greater awareness of the effects of gender on disease processes. To achieve this goal, educators must first define the competencies required to provide comprehensive care for women and then develop innovative training experiences for residents to acquire these skills. The need to improve training in women's health is an important component of curriculum reform. As has been true for other emerging disciplines, highlighting the special competencies and required training experiences in women's health will benefit our female patients as well as the orderly growth of the discipline. Such emphasis, however, must not serve to further fragment medical care or polarize patients and providers by gender. If curriculum reform is successful, these initiatives will be fully integrated into the training of the comprehensive general internist and will further the goal of improving medical care for all patients.