Fig. 1

LGB vs transgender clinical perceptions. Abbreviations: LGB lesbian, gay, and bisexual; LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender; DOCSS Development of Clinical Skills Scale. LGBT-DOCSS scores are means on 7-point Likert scales. Higher scores are indicative of higher levels of clinical preparedness and knowledge and less prejudicial attitudes regarding LGBT patients. Similar LGBT-DOCSS items that differed based on patient type (i.e., LGB vs transgender) were analyzed using paired sample t-tests to determine whether there were clinical perceptual differences between LGBT subpopulations. While medical students reported significantly more awareness about institutional barriers [t (939) = 4.674] and healthcare disparities [t (939) = 3.524] that transgender patients face compared to LGB patients, they reported significantly less adequate clinical training and supervision [t (939) = − 16.652], experience [t (939) = − 18.457], and competence [t (939) = − 17.716] to assess transgender patients compared to LGB patients