Genitourinary medicine doctors needed 'more than ever'

Getty/Stephen Barnes

By Sam Hall, PA Media

A campaign has been launched to encourage more doctors to specialise in sexual health, amid rising levels of gonorrhoea and syphilis.

The leading organisation for sexual health and HIV professionals in the UK said genitourinary medicine (GUM) doctors are needed “now more than ever”.

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) has launched its LoveGUM campaign to encourage more trainee doctors to consider the “attractive career path”.

It comes as cases of STIs rise, with levels of gonorrhoea in England now at the highest level since records began in 1918 and new diagnoses of syphilis at levels not seen since 1948.

BASHH said its campaign would highlight “the rewarding nature of GUM”, adding that the field “incorporates clinical skills and knowledge from a wide variety of areas”.

A survey conducted by BASHH in November 2023 suggested that over two thirds (68%) of GUM doctors, who investigate, diagnose, and manage STIs and HIV, enjoy the variety of their work and 82% “most enjoy that GUM offers a good work-life balance”.