Menopause education in undergraduate medical curricula: a narrative review of teaching models, content gaps, and learner preparedness

IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVE: Menopause accounts for approximately one-third of a woman's lifetime and requires competent counseling and longitudinal management by physicians across specialties. Although menopause education has received increasing attention in graduate medical education, the quality of menopause teaching in undergraduate medical education remains unclear. This narrative review aimed to characterize the current state of menopause education in undergraduate medical curricula and identify deficiencies in curricular structure, content, and pedagogy. Secondary aims describe learner outcomes and identify opportunities for development of standardized menopause education. METHODS: A narrative literature review was conducted to evaluate menopause education for medical students in the United States and internationally. Searches were performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and MedEd Portal, with additional gray literature sources including The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and The Menopause Society. Eligible studies described educational interventions or curricula for medical students or medical trainees with extractable data on medical students, with or without a defined evaluation of the intervention. Study characteristics and outcomes were extracted and synthesized narratively. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The literature search identified 1,305 records, of which 12 studies met inclusion criteria. Menopause education was inconsistently incorporated into undergraduate medical curricula and often embedded within broader primary care teaching rather than delivered as structured content. Although students generally demonstrated accurate recognition of menopausal symptoms, many showed gaps in management and counseling skills. Menopause education in undergraduate medical curricula is inconsistently delivered and lacks standardization. Development of a structured, competency-based menopause curriculum for undergraduate medical education may improve learner preparedness to better care for menopause patients.