Perceptions of family planning and abortion education at a faith-based medical school

BackgroundBecause of religious beliefs against contraception and abortion, family planning education is limited at faith-based institutions. The purpose of this study was to assess medical students' satisfaction with family planning education at a faith-based medical school.Study DesignA self-administered anonymous questionnaire was designed and distributed to all second- and fourth-year students (n=273) at a faith-based medical school during the 2008–2009 academic year. The questionnaire included items on adequacy of and preference for amount and content of family planning preclinical education and clinical training.ResultsA total of 220 students completed the questionnaire for a response rate of 80.6%. The majority of respondents described the preclinical education as inadequate and preferred increased content on contraception (73.9%), sterilization (68.6%) and abortion (65.2%). The majority of fourth-year students reported appropriate contraceptive clinical training (69.0%), but inadequate sterilization training (54.8%) and abortion training (71.4%) during their third-year OB/GYN clerkship. Approximately half of fourth-year students (51.8%) desired clinical abortion training.ConclusionThe majority of students enrolled at a faith-based medical school rated their current family planning education as inadequate and desired additional opportunities.