Teaching LGBTQ+ Health, a Web-based Faculty Development Course: Program Evaluation Study Using the RE-AIM Framework

JMIR Medical Education (07/21/23) Vol. 9 Gisondi, Michael Albert; Keyes, Timothy; Zucker, Shana; et al.

An assessment of the Stanford School of Medicine's massive open online course on teaching about health topics relevant for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people, using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) framework, sought to evaluate the program's impact. Researchers estimated that 1,782 learners engaged with the Teaching LGBTQ+ Health: A Faculty Development Course for Health Professions Educators course, and 1,516 accessed it via its main website. The majority of learners were physicians and those outside the sponsoring institution and target audience. The average test scores of the 679 learners who completed both the pre- and post-course tests improved 30%. Continuing medical education (CME) evaluations identified LGBTQ+ health as a distinct domain, inclusivity in practices and teaching strategies for LGBTQ+ health as themes. Only about 13% (237) of the participants earned CME credits, while LGBTQ+ health concepts and instructional strategies emerged as primary themes in the adoption domain. Most learners widely concurred that course content, presentation and likelihood of practice change had positive impacts. Implementation entailed a $57,000 course-building cost covered by intramural funding via grants and subsidies; faculty and educational technologists respectively spent around 600 hours and 712 hours on the project. The researchers found much of the course to have continued relevance, with minimal faculty time required for maintaining oversight and quality assurance. New course inclusions will likely cover topics like transgender health and gender-affirming care. "Our goal is to use the web-based platform as a flagship for a suite of LGBTQ+ health curricula; this program evaluation was viewed as foundational to such an initiative," the authors wrote.

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