Dec 21
Blog
Dec 12
Helping a Physician Become an Abortion Provider
It’s often difficult for doctors who received abortion training while in residency to integrate the service once they are in practice. They face many barriers including resistant staff members, malpractice costs, and the need for additional clinical training. An experienced mentor can be helpful in developing strategies for overcoming these barriers. Each spring the Reproductive…
Dec 11
IUD Evangelism
Apparently IUD users love their IUD so much they can’t help themselves from spreading the word about how great a contraceptive option it is. New York Magazine is calling this phenomena “IUD Evangelism.” Why is getting an IUD an almost spiritual experience? “..learning about the IUD is like discovering that some benevolent God has been listening to…
Dec 06
Increasing Access, Increasing Equality
Since I came out—over a decade ago, which was about the same time I started doing reproductive justice work—my straight friends have asked me why, as a lesbian, I care so much about abortion rights. For a long time, I couldn’t answer their question with anything more than: I’m a lesbian; I’m a feminist; I’m…
Dec 04
Meet Our New Interns
Name: Gabrielle deFiebre, but I go by GG. Hails from: New York, NY Why are you passionate about reproductive health? When I first started classes for my master’s of Public Health at Hunter College, I was introduced to the concept of health disparities and how access to quality care is often determined by income…
Nov 29
Setting the Record Straight About Contraception
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Reproductive Health Access Project friend and supporter, Mary Joan Murphy, recently published an article blasting common contraception myths in Advance for Nurses. The article was written with help from RHAP’s education director Dr. Ruth Lesnewski and RHAP’s board president Barbara Kancelbaum. In the article, Mary Joan highlights the role nurses can…
Nov 28
Support Our End of Year Fundraising Appeal!
Around this time every year we ask all our friends and supporters to make a donation to support our work. This support enables us to expand our work to new places in great need. So far this year, donations from supporters like you has already increased by 70%! But, there is so much more we…
Nov 14
IUDs: The Other Side of the Speculum
I’m a single, white, sexually-active young woman with no significant medical history and I want an intrauterine device (IUD). Yet after four months of trying to get an IUD, I still have an empty uterus. At the end of my last visit to the doctor, I turned to my friend exasperated and exclaimed, “Why does…
Nov 07
The 2012 Family Medicine Residency Survey: The Results Are In!
Each spring, starting in 2007, RHAP conducts an annual survey of graduating 3rd year family medicine residents who have received abortion training. We use information from the survey to help connect with newly trained family physicians and to build our Family Medicine Reproductive Health Network. As of this spring, the Network had 429 members across…
Oct 10
Language in the Exam Room
The medical students and residents we train are often surprised at the emphasis we put on language in the exam room. Take this recent story from a family doctor in our practice who was working with a medical student: While examining the patient she [the medical student] used phrases like, “Scoot your bottom down until…