Purpose: To survey U.S. Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) Residency
Programs on immediate postpartum (IP) long-acting reversible contraception
(LARC) training and challenges.
Background: In 2016, the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists (ACOG) released a committee opinion supporting IP LARC. Growing
evidence describes provider/hospital barriers which hinder IP LARC provision.
We hypothesize similar difficulties have prevented programs from implementing
training.
Methods: We distributed an electronic survey addressing IP LARC
training to 273 U.S. Accredited Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
Ob/Gyn Residency Program Directors from the 2017-2018 Academic Year. Data
analysis was performed with chi-square and Fisher’s exact test.
Results: Of 86 programs that participated, residents were
trained in the immediate postpartum period to place implants in 54 programs
(63%) and to place intrauterine devices (IUDs) in 52 programs (60%).
Prior to
2015, only 20% of the programs were training their residents to place IP IUDs.
Thirty-one percent of eligible programs initiated training in 2017. The
majority of programs focused training interns (98%). Patient/provider
convenience motivated 46% of programs to offer IP LARC and compliance motivated
27%.
The two barriers
most frequently encountered, regardless of program training status, were
problems with billing and compensation for services (61%) and the pharmacy
(33%).
Programs
that reported primarily seeing patients with insurance, either private or
Medicaid, were more likely to have IP IUD training compared to programs seeing
mostly indigent/uninsured populations (p<0.05).
Discussions: IP LARC training has increased since the ACOG Committee
Opinion was published, however many programs are still facing challenges with
implementation, affecting resident training.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2019, Student, Resident, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Clerkship Coordinator, Osteopathic Faculty, Residency Director, Residency Coordinator, Patient Care, Systems-Based Practice & Improvement, GME, Public Health, Advocacy, Contraception or Family Planning,
Caroline Starling,
BSA, McGovern
Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Han-Yang Chen,
PhD; Randa
Jalloul, MD;
Cristina Wallace
Huff, MD
