Keywords: Stigma, Family medicine, Medical education, Experiential learning, Health equity, Qualitative research

Background:

Empowering future family physicians includes addressing structural stigma in healthcare. In 2023–2024, general practice trainees at our university attended anti-stigma workshops. Trainers were selected via a public call guided by UNAIDS (2009) quality criteria, and focused on obesity, LGBTQIA+ identity, and mental health. Each trainer designed their intervention freely within this framework. Understanding the way trainers approached this task can shed light on how experiential knowledge is mobilised in teaching to promote inclusive care.

Research questions:

How do trainers conceptualise their role and intentions when delivering anti-stigma education to general practice trainees?

Method:

A qualitative study inspired by grounded theory was conducted. All trainers were interviewed post-intervention. Transcripts were analysed thematically using open, axial, and integrative coding.

Results:

Trainers used videos, testimonies, and role plays grounded in lived experience to raise awareness of stigma’s impact. They promoted mutual engagement in care, encouraged reflection on physicians’ influence over patients’ lives, and highlighted the ethical and legal risks of discriminatory behaviour. They reframed themselves not only as care recipients, but as experts by experience, challenging the usual caregiver–patient hierarchy.

Conclusions:

Understanding trainers’ intentions reveals how experiential anti-stigma education can support ethical, inclusive practice. A mirror study with trainees is underway.

Points for discussion:

To what extent can anti-stigma training during vocational education impact long-term clinical behaviours and decision-making in primary care?

How can general practice curricula better integrate reflective and experiential approaches to address structural stigma in healthcare?

What evaluation strategies are appropriate to assess the transformative impact of anti-stigma interventions in medical training?