If you woke up with a throbbing pain in your jaw, you'd trust your dentist to properly diagnose what's going on—odds are he's seen dozens of patients with problems just like it before.
But for the average transgender patient, finding a doctor with the appropriate training in hormone therapy could be a total crapshoot. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the Endocrine Society recently surveyed 411 endocrinologists, doctors who specialize in treating your body's endocrine system, which produces hormones. The survey revealed that while 80 percent of doctors said they had treated at least one transgender patient, only 1 in 5 reported having any formal training in transgender care.
"We expected an education deficit would be present, however the extent of this deficit was surprising, especially in practicing clinicians," says study author Caroline Davidge-Pitts, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.
Endocrinologists are the specialists transgender patients need to visit if they're seeking hormone therapy, which is necessary to develop secondary sex characteristics like breasts or facial hair that are more in line with their preferred gender. In the survey, 45 percent of endocrinologists said they typically see at least five transgender patients each year.
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