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Nov 14
Back in April the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–the organization that sets the training standards and accredits all residency training programs in the United States–updated the training standards for Family Medicine. Instead of making the training requirements in women’s health stronger, they weakened them! Training in contraception was no longer required. In fact, family…
Jun 24
When I give a presentation about the abortion services we provide in our family medicine clinic, people often ask, “Do you have a counselor to meet with your patients to help them?” I’m a bit put off by this question. I want to say, “It’s my patients with a new diagnosis of diabetes or high blood…
Jun 19
Spring is a busy season at the Reproductive Health Access Project. In the past few months we’ve presented an a number of academic conferences across the United States. Here’s a peak at some of our spring travels. On March 7th-8th our educational director Dr. Ruth Lesnewski presented at the ACU Health IT for the Underserved…
Apr 16
I work once a week at a high volume abortion site. When I’m there I often don’t have the chance to have much of an interaction with the patients in the minute or so that I see them before the anesthesia takes effect. But the other day, I had a quick conversation that really stuck…
Mar 05
We at RHAP have always known that just because clinicians are trained in abortion care doesn’t mean they will provide abortion care. Whether or not clinicians can provide this care rests on many factors including: where the individual practices are located, the support of their colleagues, the ability to access the right equipment and supplies,…
Dec 12
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…
Nov 07
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…
Jun 20
Family physicians aim to be “patient-centered.” It’s not always clear, however, what that means. It doesn’t mean that we give antibiotics to anyone with a cold who wants them. It doesn’t mean we prescribe narcotics for anyone who requests them. We practice medicine responsibly while paying attention to our patients’ concerns. Being patient-centered is more…