Abstract
The general state of education regarding the menopause at undergraduate, postgraduate and senior doctor level in the primary and secondary health care fields is reviewed. It covers the problems of awareness of the menopause, the potential for preventing mortality and morbidity amongst the ageing female population and discusses why existing clinical knowledge currently available is not in fact widely utilised in clinical practice. It concludes that there are serious problems with medical education in this area, especially amongst established senior doctors in many disciplines.
The article suggests the format for education about the menopause for undergraduates, including the mention of problem based learning on the new curriculum. It includes the flexible format for education on the menopause and concludes that unless widespread audits are done to establish improve benefits both in healthcare provision in the reduction of disease and also showing the enormous economic benefits it is unlikely that much will be achieved in implementing existing knowledge into clinical practice. If this is to happen, then medical practitioners should be adequately trained and educated about the menopause and its management.
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