The comfort of family practice residents with health care of patients of the opposite gender

Background and Objectives: Studies have shown that female and male resident s see disproportionately few patients of the opposite gender. Such an imbal ance may be detrimental to the quality of residency training. This study ex amined residents' levels of comfort in caring for patients of the same and opposite genders and their assessments of the adequacy of the number of sam e-and opposite-gender patients they say during residency training. Methods: Data were collected from four family practice residency programs in the Mi dwest. All current family practice residents at the four sites surveyed wer e given a questionnaire asking them to rate their perceptions of the gender distributions of their patient panels and comfort with several areas of he alth care, some gender specific. The questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale. Results: Ninety-four surveys (83% response rate) were collected. Ni nety-three percent of female residents reported seeing enough female patien ts, but only 54% reported seeing enough male patients. Seventy-six percent of male residents reported seeing enough male patients, but only 31% report ed seeing enough female patients. More females than males (88% versus 48%) felt comfortable with women's health, but more males than females (70% vers us 31%) felt comfortable with men's health. Male residents were significant ly more comfortable than female residents in performing or managing prostat e exams, testicular exams, and prostatitis. Female residents were significa ntly more comfortable with clinical breast exams and breast disease. Conclu sions: Male and female residents perceive disproportionate experiences in t heir exposure to patients of the opposite gender. Significant differences b etween male and female residents were also apparent regarding their relativ e comfort in managing some gender-specific health care topics. These result s have implications for residency education.