Sex and Gender Integration in the Swiss Medical Curriculum

This project enabled the creation of a network and the unification of practices among various institutions regarding the integration of sex and gender into education. It was carried out through a collaboration between ten institutions responsible for medical education (Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, USI, Zurich, and ETH Zurich) and a nursing school (SUPSI). It was supported by swissuniversities following the call for projects “P-7 Equal Opportunities and University Development 2021–2024.”

In a context of limited resources, the project succeeded in pooling efforts. Based on the PROFILES framework, the project defined a reference curriculum for teaching sex and gender and created an IT platform (GEMS platform – Gender Education in Medicine for Switzerland) to upload and download teaching materials related to the topic.

The project raised awareness and mobilized numerous stakeholders, including deans, faculty members, and of course, students from the various universities. The coordination of the project and the creation of the platform were led by Unisanté. Additionally, a new association was founded—the Swiss Society for Gender Health—to bring together all individuals interested in the topic, regardless of their professional background.