Taking a Sexual History Best Practices

Sexual health history taking is a skill that comes with training, repetition, and normalization; unfortunately, sexual health histories are often incomplete,23 likely not meeting patients' needs. The AAMC provides recommendations on including sexual health history taking within medical school curricula; however, implementation of such recommendations may be institution specific. Universal principles of respect, making sure individuals feel comfortable sharing intimate details about their sex lives with their health-care providers and recognizing that many individuals may have experienced trauma, stigma, discrimination, and sexual violence, all related to their sexual health and well-being are important. Being aware of these principles and acting accordingly can help make sexual health history more inclusive and welcoming. Furthermore, changing the paradigm from a disease -centered model to focusing more on patients and their sexual health goals can only help to decrease stigma, discrimination, shame, and trauma inflicted by the health-care systems on our patients. It starts and stops with opening the conversation with our patients, understanding that sexual health is not merely the absence of disease, and respecting differences in sexual practices while supporting the sexual health goals of each individual and working toward them.