Building capacity for menopause care: a national needs assessment of menopause education in US family medicine residency programs

OBJECTIVES: Family physicians care for women across the lifespan, yet little is known about the menopause education they receive during training. We conducted a national survey of US family medicine program directors to characterize the current state of menopause education, including curriculum structure, didactic content, clinical training, and program directors' perspectives on improvement and standardization. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey on menopause education was embedded within the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) omnibus survey, which is administered biannually to family medicine residency program directors and collects standardized program demographic data. RESULTS: Of 313 family medicine program directors who responded to the omnibus survey (44.7% response rate), 279 completed the menopause-specific questions. The majority (94%) reported either a dedicated menopause curriculum or menopause education integrated within a broader women's health curriculum. Overall 56% of program directors agreed there was a need to improve menopause education; those with an established formal curriculum were less likely to agree (46% vs. 61%, P=0.02), although interest in a standardized national curriculum was similarly high across groups. CONCLUSIONS: Menopause education is broadly incorporated across US family medicine residency training, reflecting a meaningful foundation for evidence-based menopause care. However, didactic volume remains limited, content coverage is variable, and training relies heavily on continuity clinic exposure, with little formal assessment. Scalable, on-demand learning modules with competency assessment represent a promising avenue for strengthening menopause training.