News Release

October 16, 2015

CONTACT:      Jessica Bagwell, Jessica.Bagwell@ttuhsc.edu

                          (806) 743-7610

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health will join faculty and researchers around the world to host the U.S. Sex and Gender Medical Education Summit October 18-19 at Leighton Auditorium, Siebens Building – Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester MN  55905. The summit is sponsored by the American Medical Women’s Association, the TTUHSC Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health, the Mayo Clinic and the Society for Women’s Health Research and will provide insight for medical educators about integrating sex- and gender-based medicine into medical and interprofessional education.

The event will feature world-renowned experts in the field of sex- and gender-based medicine. The goal for the summit is to emphasize the importance of the establishment or adoption of dedicated sex- and gender-education curricula in all medical schools.

During the summit, participants will encounter the following learning objectives:

• Analyze the current climate of sex and gender education in medical schools, with a special focus on sex- and gender-based health disparities
• Assess curricular resources that can be utilized within medical schools or as interprofessional resources
• Identify facilitators and barriers to translating sex- and gender-difference research into evidence-based clinical practice
• Determine how best to address present and future needs to bridge the gaps and disparities between sex and gender medical education and clinical practice.

As the producer of a groundbreaking sex- and gender-based medical curriculum, the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health and the TTUHSC School of Medicine faculty will deliver lectures both on the importance of integrating sex and gender differences into medical curricula, as well as the strides TTUHSC is making in pioneering sex- and gender-based medical curriculum development.

“There is overwhelming evidence that sex and gender differences can have large-scale correlations to a person’s health,” said Marjorie Jenkins, M.D., FACP, Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health chief scientific officer and curriculum developer. “For instance, women are more likely than men to have adverse reactions to prescription drugs. Yet, most drugs do not have different recommended dosages depending on a patient’s gender. Women are also more likely to die from a cardiac event than men. Our research and our medical education should be taking these differences into account. It’s important that sex- and gender-based medical education curricula are created so that medical schools teach students that these differences matter.”

The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health Executive Director Connie Tyne, M.S., will participate to reinforce the institute’s commitment to funding scientific research that adds to the growing knowledge base regarding sex and gender medical differences. Today, these findings are being translated to medical professionals through curriculum modules and continuing medical education created by experts from TTUHSC and across the nation.

 “The institute is committed to delivering effective medical education for current and future physicians to insure all patients receive personalized medicine, individually inspired, with the best possible outcome for each one,” Tyne said.

For more information about the summit or the TTUHSC Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health sex- and gender-based medical curriculum, contact the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health at (806) 414-9949.