Standardizing abortion education: what medical schools can learn from residency programs

Purpose of review With over 50 million abortions annually and 25% of pregnancies ending in abortion worldwide, abortion is one of the most common medical procedures. Yet abortion-related topics are glaringly absent from medical school curricula in the USA with half of medical schools including no formal training or only a single lecture. We explore abortion education in US medical schools and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) residency programs. Specifically, we review efforts to improve and standardize this training. Recent findings Despite documented interest in both learning and in the benefits of early exposure, medical students face a lack of educational opportunities in abortion care. Meanwhile, Ob/Gyn residency has standardized requirements for abortion care, greatly improving training and education, despite persistent challenges in universal compliance with these standards. Education in abortion care is crucially important in fostering and training future abortion providers, thereby ensuring and expanding access to safe abortion. The improvements made by standardizing abortion education in Ob/Gyn residency should encourage similar efforts in medical school in order to increase earlier and wider exposure to future physicians of all specialties. On a national level, standardizing exams for medical students by which to evaluate their understanding of abortion care would hold schools accountable for medical student education.