Although patients’ medical gender transition can be facilitated by counseling, as a matter of medical ethics, informed consent must be obtained for treatment.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(11):1079-1085. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.ecas2-1611.
Medical educators must become aware of undesirable behaviors or attitudes that they may inadvertently be modeling to students in the clinic because the implicit messages students receive can profoundly affect their behavior and interactions with patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(2):142-146. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2015.17.2.jdsc1-1502.
Timothy Cavanaugh, MD, Ruben Hopwood, MDiv, PhD, and Cei Lambert, MFA
The informed consent model for gender-affirming medical treatment emphasizes patient autonomy in choosing care without involving mental health professionals.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(11):1147-1155. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.sect1-1611.
This month, AMA Journal of Ethics' theme editor Cameron Waldman, a second-year medical student at Albany Medical College, interviewed Aron Janssen, MD, about how healthcare professionals can better serve their transgender patients.
The revisions balance a growing understanding of gender identity disorders and societal views with the need to retain conditions that benefit from intervention and the removal of which would hamper patients’ ability to receive medical treatment.