Let’s talk about sex: Development and evaluation of a sexual history and counseling curriculum for internal medicine interns

Abstract Objective We developed a curriculum to increase internal medicine interns’ proficiency in sexual history taking and sexually transmitted illness (STI) counseling. Methods The 4-h curriculum included didactics and interactive components, and was evaluated with matched pre- and post-surveys. Results Twenty-one interns completed the curriculum. Mean knowledge score improved from 59% to 76% from pre- to post-curriculum ( P = 0.004 ). Median comfort score (Likert scale 1–5) with obtaining a sexual history improved from 3.8 [IQR 3.0, 4.0] to 3.8 [IQR 3.6, 4.6] and 3.8 [IQR 3.6, 4.0] to 4.1 [IQR 3.9, 4.8] for male ( P = 0.05 ) and female patients ( P = 0.007 ), respectively. Median frequency score for obtaining a sexual history improved from 2.9 [IQR 2.7, 3.0] to 3.1 [IQR 2.8, 3.4] and 3.2 [IQR 2.8, 3.7] to 3.4 [IQR 3.2, 4.0] for male ( P = 0.16 ) and female patients ( P = 0.008 ), respectively. Pre- and post- curriculum, interns reported significantly higher comfort and frequency in obtaining sexual histories from female vs. male patients. Post- curriculum, interns reported significantly higher comfort with positive STI counseling. Practice implications Our curriculum improved interns’ knowledge and comfort in sexual history taking and STI counseling. Future interventions should address sex disparities in sexual history taking.