Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society and Pediatric Academic Societies
Mini-Course on Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) – When To Tell the Patient?

Baltimore, May 2009

The disclosure of the diagnosis to a child or adolescent with DSD involves difficult ethical issues. Physicians have different views on how and when to disclose medical information and their views can be at odds with the patient's parents. This mini-course addressed developmentally-sensitive strategies to disclosure, ethical dilemmas involving disclosure and clinical perspectives on how and when to disclose. The target audience included endocrinologists, geneticists, urologists, general pediatricians, and adolescent medicine specialists. The program was developed by the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society and Pediatric Academic Societies. Mini-course Objectives: (1) to understand the ethical principles of disclosure of medical information to children and adolescents; (2) to understand how psychological development influences a child's understanding of a DSD diagnosis; and (3) to be able to integrate developmental and ethical principles related to DSD disclosure into clinical practice.

Below, you can review the presentations used during the mini-course:

Psychological Management of DSD Education	Disclosing a DSD: My Story
Informed Consent for Research and Care for Children with DSD	Disorders of Sex Development: When to tell the Patient (pdf)