An Evaluation of STI Training and Curriculum in Canadian Medical Programs

Gale-Rowe, Margaret

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Exhibit Hall

Joyce Seto, MSc¹, Tom Wong, MD, MPH, FRCPC², Margaret Gale-Rowe, MD, MPH, Dipl. ABPM², Catherine Dickson, MD, MSc, BSc³, Michael Barrett, PhD⁴, Alexander McKay, PhD⁴, William Fisher, PhD⁵, Ron Read, MD, PhD, FRCP(C)⁶ and Marc Steben, MD, CCFP, FCFP⁷, 1Strategic Issues and Integrated Management Division, Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2Professional Guidelines and Public Health Practice Division, Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 3University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 4The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada, 5Departments of Psychology and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, 6University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services-Calgary STI Clinic, Calgary, AB, Canada, 7Direction des risques biologiques et de la santé au travail, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada

Background:In 2010, little was known of the coverage of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the curricula of Canadian medical schools and residency programs. An evaluation was completed to examine the current status of STI curriculum and training in Canadian undergraduate medicine (UM), family medicine (FM) residency and obstetrics and gynaecology (OBG) residency programs. In 2013, four additional programs were added: emergency medicine (EM), public health and preventive medicine (PHPM), medical microbiology (MM) and infectious diseases (ID). The additional data provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the use of STI Guidelines in medical school and residency programs.

Methods: Directors or deans from all 17 Canadian medical schools representing identified programs (N=102) were contacted to do a self-administered paper questionnaire.

Results: 83 (81.4%) completed the surveys. Overall, the management and treatment of specific infections (60.2%) and specific syndromes (54.2%) received the most emphasis. Education and counselling to specific populations (25.3%) received the least emphasis, followed by epidemiology of STIs in Canada (28.9%). HIV pre-test counselling was given considerable or heavy emphasis by 34.9% of programs. The main training method used was clinical experience (91.6%), followed by core lectures (81.9%). 38.2% of programs reported considerable or heavy use of the Canadian Guidelines on Sexually Transmitted Infection. The Canadian STI Guidelines Online were used by 68.7% of programs overall, while the hardcopy binder format was used by 43.4%.

Conclusions: This expanded evaluation allows individual programs to compare themselves to other programs and provides insight on the use of STI training resources. Results will inform knowledge translation activities of the Public Health Agency of Canada as it develops resources in preferred formats and with content designed to meet the specific needs of particular disciplines. Future assessments will examine the impact on uptake and adherence.

TP 202 An Evaluation of STI Training and Curriculum in Canadian Medical Programs