Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Intensive Course on Issues in Women's Health and Gender-Based Medicine.

Objectives: Sex and gender have profound effects on disease prevalence, presentation, and outcome, but these issues are not covered in depth in standard medical school curricula. To improve understanding of women's health, an intensive 1-month class was offered to fourth-year medical students.

Methods: The class combined background lectures on the biological and social determinants of women's health with presentations on specific medical conditions by practicing clinicians and students.

Modulation of Secondary Cancer Risks from Radiation Exposure by Sex, Age and Gonadal Hormone Status: Progress, Opportunities and Challenges.

Available data on cancer secondary to ionizing radiation consistently show an excess (2-fold amount) of radiation-attributable solid tumors in women relative to men. This excess risk varies by organ and age, with the largest sex differences (6- to more than 10-fold) found in female thyroid and breasts exposed between birth until menopause (~50 years old) relative to age-matched males. Studies in humans and animals also show large changes in cell proliferation rates, radiotracer accumulation and target density in female reproductive organs, breast, thyroid and brain in conjunction with physiological changes in gonadal hormones during the menstrual cycle, puberty, lactation and menopause.