Every UK medical student offered free trans healthcare training

Every medical student in the UK will be offered free, award-winning trans healthcare training as part of Transgender Awareness Week.

Online training platform Affirm will offer its five-hour CPD-accredited course for free to medical students at UK establishments between Friday, 13 November and Friday, 20 November, which is Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The offer comes following a 2026 NHS England-commissioned review, which found LGBTQ+ health teaching is still not required as part of medical training in the UK.

The review, conducted by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Aberdeen, found that the General Medical Council’s standards for medical education does not mention LGBTQ+ health, adding current teaching is inconsistent. It drew on a survey of medical students, which found that just one in eight felt their knowledge of LGBTQ+ healthcare was good enough.

October also saw NHS England release revised guidance on hospital accommodation, which stated trans patients should be “accommodated in line with their biological sex”. It added that trans patients’ clinical needs are met, while privacy, dignity and safety is maintained for all patients.

However, the guidance saw calls from trans+ organisations that it did not adequately explain how trans patients should be cared for safely.

Affirm co-founder Laura Scarrone Bonhomme, a clinical psychologist and gender specialist, said: “Doctors deserve to feel fully prepared for the realities of modern clinical practice. While NHSE guidance places increasing responsibility on individual clinicians, it fails to allocate sufficient time to equip them with the knowledge needed to support gender and sexual minorities.

“It saddens me every time I hear doctors worry about saying the wrong thing when caring for trans and non-binary patients, while those same community members dread seeking care for fear of discrimination.

“Affirm addresses that disconnect through reflective and ethical training. None of us are free from unconscious bias. By building the habit of examining our own actions, values, and cultural assumptions, we can ensure our practice remains safe, objective, and centred on the best interests of every patient.”

What is in the course?

The course is adapted from Scarrone Bonhomme, Dr Michael Beattie and Skye Davies’ book, Gender Affirming Therapy: A Guide to What Transgender and Non-Binary Clients Can Teach Us, which won the British Psychological Society’s 2025 Practitioner Text Award, as well as the American Psychological Association Division 44 Distinguished Book Award in 2025.

It covers six modules: foundations of gender, including clinical pathways to gender-affirming healthcare; understanding gender norms; sexuality beyond labels; the history of trans health and how the socio-political context affects access; in their own words: interviews with trans and non-binary people about their experiences of care; and the clinician’s role: power dynamics, practical language skills and real-life case scenarios.

The training has been endorsed by transgender healthcare provider Gender Plus.

Gender Plus director and clinical psychologist Dr Claudia Zitz said: “The training developed by Laura and her team was so comprehensive we decided to promote Affirm to our network.

“The need for training to support trans and non-binary patients has never been greater, and I have no doubt that medical students will gain a huge amount of insight from which their patients will ultimately benefit.”

Students can register online with their university email address, while medical schools interested in access beyond Transgender Awareness Week can contact Affirm.

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