Background: Many
medical school clerkship directors report that formal family planning education
is not offered. Students are more likely to be comfortable referring and
providing reproductive health services when exposed to formal education.
Methods: Medical
students during their obstetrics and gynecology clerkship at McGovern Medical
School during the 2017-2018 academic year were given a de-identified quiz and
survey at the beginning and end of their rotation. Half of the students
participated in a resident-led one-hour didactic session on family planning
while half did not. Data was analyzed using chi-squared test for categorical
variables.
Results: Pre-rotation,
students had low baseline scores on a family planning quiz (48.0% intervention
group (I) vs. 49.0% no intervention (NI) group, p=0.51). A formal educational
initiative significantly improved scores on the quiz (58.2% I vs. 50.7%
NI, p<0.0001).Students’ pre-rotation attitudes about women obtaining a
second trimester abortion under any circumstance showed that 17% disagreed. After
the educational intervention, fewer students agreed with women having access to
second trimester abortion under circumstances such as rape, incest or fetal
anomalies (69.2% I vs 88.4% NI, p=0.0049).
Discussions: Although the
intervention improved knowledge, students were not more likely to report
comfort providing family planning services in their future practice. Students’
attitudinal bias against ACOG-supported access to abortion in the second
trimester paradoxically increased. Further studies are needed to elucidate
barriers to improving knowledge and attitudes about reproductive health.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2019, Resident, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Residency Director, Medical Knowledge, UME, Contraception or Family Planning,
Patricia Vowels, MD, McGovern Medical School,
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Han-Yang Chen, PhD; Sara
Holcombe, DO; Cristina Wallace Huff, MD
