Ethical considerations for inclusive clinical care, health professional education, and research related to gender affirming care.

Abstract: Amidst recent policy changes that restrict access to gender affirming care and increase barriers to gender inclusive education and research, academic medical centers encounter complex ethical dilemmas about how to fulfill their tripartite missions of patient care, education, and research. This multidisciplinary panel will discuss ethical considerations for gender-affirming care, health professional education, and research at multiple academic medical centers and health systems, including:

• Ethical challenges related to the design, delivery, quality, and sustainability of gender affirming care services; e.g., ethical challenges of starting new child or adolescent patients on gender affirming care when services could soon be eliminated based on federal restrictions.
• Lessons learned about nurse leader and physician education on how to ethically respond to conscientious objections to providing gender affirming care. For example, panelists will discuss the ethical responsibility to provide inclusive care for patients while respecting the diverse beliefs of healthcare workers and efforts to set and implement policy and educate health professionals.
• Best practices for evolving challenges in gender affirming care, education, and research. For example, panelists will discuss the implications of limiting data collection about gender identity and sexual orientation data among patients and research participants.

Panelists will prioritize the specific content considerations and adapt the presentation to be responsive to the rapidly changing regulatory and care environments for gender affirming care. The depth of expertise and lived experience represented on this panel will ensure an enriching, interactive, and meaningful discussion of timely and important ethical issues related to gender-affirming care.

Keywords: Gender-affirming care best practices, Health professional education and policy related to conscientious objection, Conscientious objection to providing gender-affirming care