Family Medicine Clerkship Teaching About Contraception: Meeting a Need

Abstract

Introduction: Women's healthcare including preventive care, obstetric care, and family planning and counseling are important medical education topics that student physicians frequently encounter during their Family Medicine Clerkship in medical training; however, despite its brief emphasis, many students feel underprepared to counsel patients in a clinical setting. With this in mind, a case-based curriculum focused on women's health was developed for students enrolled in the Family Medicine Clerkship. Methods: During the 2018-2019 academic year, 127 students on the Family Medicine Clerkship at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) participated in three two-hour sessions on the topics of adolescent preventive health care, obstetric care, and contraceptive counseling. These sessions incorporated cases, role-play activities, and pre-session readings. An optional, anonymous, paper-based pre-session survey of Likert-type questions was administered prior to the first session and a post-session survey of Likert-type questions was given following the final session. IRB exemption was obtained. Results: The pre-session survey showed that 41.67% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident in their ability to perform female contraceptive counseling. After the sessions, 92.68% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the case addressing contraceptive counseling was of clinical value to their learning needs. Conclusion: Given that less than half of the students felt confident in their counseling abilities prior to these sessions, this curriculum is potentially addressing an unmet educational need. Students found this session to be relevant, indicating that a case-based discussion curriculum that incorporates both pre-session reading materials and role-play interactions may be a promising educational approach.

Sexual and reproductive health teaching in undergraduate medical education: A narrative review

“…A survey of North American family medicine faculty educators found limited contraception and pregnancy options counseling during family medicine rotations 31 . Several studies described high student satisfaction with more interactive approaches to contraception education 4,15,28,48,49 …”

“…Nine studies assessed the sexual and reproductive health education of preclinical students—those in their first or second year of medical school 3,8,18,27,30,32,33,38,48 . Twenty‐one USA studies assessed clinical students during their third year clerkships 2,4,5,9,11–17,19,21–23,26,28,31,40,49,55 . Two studies assessed sexual and reproductive health education from all years in medical school through surveys of faculty with knowledge of the curriculum 7,53 .…”

“…31 Several studies described high student satisfaction with more interactive approaches to contraception education. 4,15,28,48,49 Emergency contraception…”

“…3,8,18,27,30,32,33,38,48 Twenty-one USA studies assessed clinical students during their third year clerkships. 2,4,5,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]19,[21][22][23]26,28,31,40,49,55 Two studies assessed sexual and reproductive health education from all years in medical school through surveys of faculty with knowledge of the curriculum. 7,53 Six studies assessed fifth and/or sixth year students about sexual and reproductive health education.…”

“…Twenty-seven studies focused on contraception 2,4,5,8,10,15,18,19,22,23,25,27,28,[30][31][32][34][35][36]38,41,43,[48][49][50]54,55 ; two of them specifically on long-acting reversible contraception. 8,49 One study described a preclinical, case-based, flipped-classroom model of teaching contraceptive pharmacology.…”