Purpose: To determine if a professionalism workshop that
explores attitudes about abortion care influences ob-gyn resident attitudes at
Catholic residency programs.
Background: Catholic residency programs face institutional
barriers to abortion training.
Methods: Between 2018-2019, we provided professionalism
workshops at five Catholic programs that do not provide abortion training.
Participants received a pre and post survey related to abortion training and
attitudes. We compared Likert responses using Wilcoxon matched pair
test.
Results: 41 residents (87% of eligible residents) completed
both surveys; 29.3% reported Catholic religion, 14.6% reported their personal
views on reproductive care are in line with their institution, and 12.2% reported
selecting a Catholic program based on its religious affiliation. With
respect to prior abortion experiences, 75.6% provided options counselling,
41.5% provided abortion referral, and 9.8% provided first-trimester abortion
for nonmedical reasons. Views on whether abortion or related
circumstances is justifiable did not change for a patient presenting with an
undesired pregnancy (p=0.32), but demonstrated increasing acceptance for the
following circumstances: (1) patient presenting for abortion at 19 weeks
(p=0.001), (2) patient presenting for second abortion (p=0.01), and (3) patient
declining post-abortal contraception (p< 0.001). Emotional reactions
to scenarios were unchanged. When asked about when abortion is morally
acceptable, views became more accepting for patients presenting with financial
inability (p< 0.01) and for disruption to career or education (p< 0.01).
Discussions: A professionalism workshop can be a useful tool for residents at Catholic training programs to explore their abortion attitudes and results in more accepting attitudes toward women who choose abortion in certain circumstances.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2020, Resident, Faculty, Residency Director, Professionalism, Systems-Based Practice & Improvement, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, GME, Assessment, Public Health, Contraception or Family Planning,
Maryam Guiahi,
MD, MsC; University of Colorado School of
Medicine; Carrie Wilson, MD, MPH; Emily Claymore, MPH; Kristin Simonson,
MA; Uta Landy,
PhD; Jody Steinauer,
MD, MAS, PhD