Expanding Abortion Training: Interest, Experience and Comfort in Abortion Care Among Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residents.

BACKGROUND

Primary care and emergency medicine physicians may encounter patients who are seeking abortions, require miscarriage management or post-abortion care. Yet, little is known about their respective abortion training.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to elucidate the interest and experience in abortion care among non-obstetrics/gynecology (OBGYN) residents.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of residents in family medicine, emergency medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics at a single academic institution in 2023-2024, evaluating interest and experience in abortion provision. Descriptive statistics were used for categorical variables, and comparisons were made via chi-square testing.

RESULTS

104 out of 297 residents completed the survey (26 family medicine; 22 emergency medicine; 36 internal medicine; 20 pediatrics; 35% response rate). The majority (94%) thought abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 90% were interested in learning more about abortion provision. A majority were interested in being trained to provide medication abortions (87%), counsel on pregnancy options (94%), manage abortion complications (95%) and learn more about abortion policies (92%). A majority thought their patients would be interested in accessing abortion care in their primary care offices (88%) or the emergency room (86%). Despite significant interest, experience in abortion care was minimal; the majority reported never prescribing medications (71%) or performing manual vacuum aspirations (88%) for abortion or miscarriage management.

CONCLUSIONS

While interest in abortion provision is high among residents in specialties beyond OBGYN, experience is limited. This represents an opportunity for expanded education and training in abortion care among these specialties.