The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) is calling out “inadequate” curricula in the area of sexual health in their University-level medical training.

 AMSA says medical students around Australia have spent the past month attending online webinars – created by other medical students – centred on sexual and reproductive health, gender and sexuality, following complaints that University Medical Education is lacking.

 “Sexual and reproductive health needs to be brought into the 21st century,” said Ms Sophie Keen, President of AMSA.

 “Given the integral role of sexual health in a patient’s health and wellbeing, it is essential that medical students receive a holistic and comprehensive sexual health education. We implore medical schools to update their sexual health curricula to ensure that graduates are equipped with up-to-date sexual health knowledge and skills to provide respectful and well-rounded care for their patients.” said Ms Keen.

 “Medical students feel that our training on these issues is inadequate. It’s either insufficiently covered in medical school, or it lacks the values and ethos held by young Australians around body and sex positivity, autonomy and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity. If Universities won’t do it, then we’ll do it ourselves”.

 “Sexual and reproductive health remain buried under taboo and tradition. We need to bring to the surface crucial and overlooked issues.” said one of the project coordinators, Ms Laura McDuff.

 “Hundreds of students Australia-wide have attended online events that have emphasised the importance of lived experience.”

 “Students have learnt how to sensitively provide care for sex workers and for queer youth with mental health issues. Speakers have explored the thorny ethics of gender politics in the bedroom, misogyny in the medical profession, and period poverty globally.”

 “We have created events highlighting the sexual health needs of underrepresented groups, including sex workers, women and Queer individuals, to inspire our attendees to address these needs with their future patients,” said one of the project coordinators Ms Mansi Tiwary.

 The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) is the peak representative body of Australia’s 17,000 medical students and aims to connect, inform and represent medical students through a series of national conferences, projects, publications and more. Sexual and Reproductive Health is an AMSA committee that aims to educate medical students on core sexual health conditions, and advocate to reduce inequities faced by vulnerable groups when accessing healthcare.