My Doctor is not Comfortable – So Maybe I Should not Talk About It? A Review on the Lack of Sexual Education in Medical Schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33719/sexscij.2504.2Keywords:
curriculum, medical school, sexual education, sexual history, sexual healthAbstract
Sexual health and well-being is an integral part of human health. In medical faculties, which train physicians who are the foundation of the health system, sexual education is either not included in the curriculum at all or is offered as an elective course, except for some subjects related to sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health. Contrary to the common belief among physicians, "Would I embarrass the patient?", people expect physicians to ask them questions about sexuality and provide sexual education. However, when physicians do not graduate from medical school with well-informed knowledge on sexuality, they feel insecure and uncomfortable even taking sexual history from their patients. There are many studies showing that sexuality courses to be given in medical facilities increase the self-confidence and comfort of physicians and enable them to add sexual history to their routine practices. Standardization and making sex education compulsory in medical faculties will be a useful step for public health by enabling the public to discuss sexual problems and obtain the right information from the appropriate source.
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