Medical Education

The Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) conducts this required course in human sexuality for first-year medical students to prepare them to render effective primary care for sexual concerns of patients. Primary care will consist basically of providing patients with information and helpful suggestions and refer patients who require more specialized forms of health care. The course is an introduction to basic and clinical skills that will be part of every physician's armamentarium regardless of specialty. Further learning experiences are available as electives.

Course Director: Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH
Instructors: Experts drawn from the UMN medical school and the community. 
Small Group Facilitators: ISGH faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and clinicians act as small group facilitators for this course.

This elective consists of clinical and/or laboratory research related to human sexuality, and is adaptable to the specific interests of the student and faculty. It involves ongoing research projects in areas such as gender dysphoria, compulsive sexual behavior, sex offenses, and sexual dysfunction. This course will demonstrate the need for research in sex-related areas.

4 credits; year 3-4 elective for Medical School undergrad students, graduate students, residents
Instructor: Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH

In this course, students will gain an understanding of the health risks experienced by LGBT individuals and will practice assessing sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual health, and discussing specific health concerns and treatment options in order to become comfortable working with this population. Students will also hear from LGBT individuals themselves about their healthcare experiences and how they wish to be treated. In addition, physicians who are LGB and/or transgender will talk about managing their professional and personal identities, as well as being "out" in the community and identifying as an LGBT-friendly healthcare provider.

2 credits; year 3-4 elective for Medical School undergrad students, graduate students, residents
Instructors: Joshua Thompson, MD; Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH

This course requires a commitment of ~40 hours per week (some evening time required) over a 2 week period. Students will have the opportunity to observe and shadow sexual health clinicians and researchers, including physicians, sex therapists, gender spectrum care therapists, pelvic floor therapists, and others. Students will observe sexual health education and counseling of intake and assessment sequences, individual and couple's therapy, group sex therapy, as well as medical evaluations and follow up visits. This is a psychological health clinic; the majority of appointment times are 53-60 minutes. Students will be provided with academic readings, videos, podcasts, and other educational material for independent learning in between observation sessions. The student is expected to participate in several hours of staff conferences, research meetings, and seminars each week.

2 credits
Instructors: Jamie Feldman, MD, PhD; Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH

Course currently on hiatus

This course covers clinical issues, assessment techniques, and treatment techniques pertaining to common sexual problems.

3 credits; also offered to graduate students in health sciences, family social science, education, psychology
Instructor: Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH

Course currently on hiatus

This course covers assessment of and therapy for sexual dysfunction problems that arise in clinical practice of primary care physicians. Required for psychiatry and family medicine residents.

Qualified students may register with permission of instructor for work on a tutorial basis as arranged.

1-15 credits
Instructors: Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH