Making a Case for Abortion Curriculum Reform: A Knowledge-Assessment Survey of Undergraduate Medical Students

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that medical schools offer insufficient training to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to counsel patients about abortion and to become abortion providers. We conducted a knowledge-assessment survey of medical students before (second-year students) and after (fourth-year students) teaching related to abortion to evaluate the effectiveness of the undergraduate abortion curriculum. Methods: Undergraduate medical students answered a knowledge-assessment survey about abortion epidemiology, practice guidelines, abortion methods and procedures, and student readiness to provide abortions. Results: One hundred and twenty six of 266 second-year students (47%) and 67 of 170 fourth-year students (39%) completed the survey. Fourth-year medical students scored higher on average than second-year students (P < 0.001), producing mean scores of 45% and 25%, respectively. Abortion epidemiology was the weakest area of performance for all students. Most medical students would either provide an abortion (37% of fourth-year students, 38% of second-year students) or refer to a provider (36% of fourth-year students and 34% of second-year students). There was no significant relationship between overall scores and student readiness to provide abortions. Conclusion: Medical students in both second and fourth year demonstrated a limited understanding of abortion. Most future physicians participating in this study indicated they would be willing to provide abortions. Curriculum reform to improve abortion training in undergraduate medical programs is essential to provide students with necessary learning opportunities and to ensure safe and effective reproductive health care for women.