Rachel Steffes, Priya Thakur, Stephanie Cox, Charles Adams, Bradley A Creamer, Jennifer F Dennis
{"title":"Medical Student Perspectives on Abortion Education in US Osteopathic Medical School Curricula.","authors":"Rachel Steffes, Priya Thakur, Stephanie Cox, Charles Adams, Bradley A Creamer, Jennifer F Dennis","doi":"10.1111/psrh.70049","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Current understanding of reproductive health content in medical school curricula is limited. This study explores abortion education offerings of osteopathic medical students (OMS) in the United States (US). After successfully completing their training, OMS receive a doctorate in osteopathic medicine (DO) rather than a Doctor of Medicine (MD). An increasing number of students are receiving DO medical education.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We developed and distributed a 19-item survey to OMS through social media and research offices at all US osteopathic medical schools. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to analyze the data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our survey resulted in 256 responses from 37 institutions (43% preclinical, n = 108; 57% clinical, n = 143). Approximately 72.1% of respondents (n = 137) were attending medical school in a state with limitations on abortion access. Over half (52.4%, n = 108) of respondents indicated their school was delivering abortion and/or contraception curriculum, with fewer schools having optional training (20%, n = 42) or no educational offerings (27%, n = 56). Of schools offering abortion education, the most frequent content included \"both abortion and contraception education\" (79.2%, n = 80); fewer reported \"contraception education only\" (17.8%, n = 18) or \"abortion education only\" (3%, n = 3) content. Half of respondents with optional abortion education participated, while 40.5% (n = 17) opted out. The most frequently reported time dedicated to abortion education was < 59 min (39.9%, n = 75). Clinical students were significantly more satisfied (p = 0.0458) with the time allotted to abortion content and perceived ability (p = 0.0256) to provide patient education on abortion.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Clinical students reported significantly increased satisfaction with abortion education received during their training as compared to preclinical students. Despite the majority supporting abortion education, most OMS received less than 1 h of dedicated instruction highlighting expansion opportunities.</p>","PeriodicalId":47632,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","volume":" ","pages":"49-57"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/psrh.70049","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/12/16 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Current understanding of reproductive health content in medical school curricula is limited. This study explores abortion education offerings of osteopathic medical students (OMS) in the United States (US). After successfully completing their training, OMS receive a doctorate in osteopathic medicine (DO) rather than a Doctor of Medicine (MD). An increasing number of students are receiving DO medical education.
Methods: We developed and distributed a 19-item survey to OMS through social media and research offices at all US osteopathic medical schools. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to analyze the data.
Results: Our survey resulted in 256 responses from 37 institutions (43% preclinical, n = 108; 57% clinical, n = 143). Approximately 72.1% of respondents (n = 137) were attending medical school in a state with limitations on abortion access. Over half (52.4%, n = 108) of respondents indicated their school was delivering abortion and/or contraception curriculum, with fewer schools having optional training (20%, n = 42) or no educational offerings (27%, n = 56). Of schools offering abortion education, the most frequent content included "both abortion and contraception education" (79.2%, n = 80); fewer reported "contraception education only" (17.8%, n = 18) or "abortion education only" (3%, n = 3) content. Half of respondents with optional abortion education participated, while 40.5% (n = 17) opted out. The most frequently reported time dedicated to abortion education was < 59 min (39.9%, n = 75). Clinical students were significantly more satisfied (p = 0.0458) with the time allotted to abortion content and perceived ability (p = 0.0256) to provide patient education on abortion.
Conclusion: Clinical students reported significantly increased satisfaction with abortion education received during their training as compared to preclinical students. Despite the majority supporting abortion education, most OMS received less than 1 h of dedicated instruction highlighting expansion opportunities.
期刊介绍：
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health provides the latest peer-reviewed, policy-relevant research and analysis on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States and other developed countries. For more than four decades, Perspectives has offered unique insights into how reproductive health issues relate to one another; how they are affected by policies and programs; and their implications for individuals and societies. Published four times a year, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health includes original research, special reports and commentaries on the latest developments in the field of sexual and reproductive health, as well as staff-written summaries of recent findings in the field.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
