By Felipe on May 30th, 2022. Posted under: Blog Post, News and Views
What made you want to start a regional website on abortion access?
The University of Washington School of Medicine has 6 campuses across the 5 state region, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Students do clinical rotations throughout the region and are exposed to differences in healthcare access across this region. Abortion access in particular varies dramatically. Seattle, for example, houses many clinics with options for second trimester abortion care; the rest of the region is quite rural, forcing patients to travel far distances to access care or utilize telemedicine and medication abortion by mail options.
With rapidly evolving abortion legislation and the prospect of Roe v Wade being overturned, communities across our region will feel the effects of new abortion restrictions very differently. We wanted to create a resource medical students and other providers can use throughout the region to understand local laws and resources in order to support patients seeking abortion care. The site includes the basics about abortion care and resources patients can turn to as they consider all of their pregnancy options. Because each state has its own abortion laws, our state profiles outline the legal landscape, insurance information, and local resources. The website also includes tools for providing inclusive care with pages on gender-affirming abortion care, trauma-informed abortion care, teen-friendly reproductive care, and more.
We know medical students provide valuable care to patients and we hope sharing this resource empowers our peers to become advocates for abortion care in medical school and beyond. Check out our site at www.pacificabortion.org.
The Pacific Abortion Project’s website.
What were some challenges in building the site and how did you overcome them?
We decided a website would be the best format for this resource to allow easy updates, but most of us didn’t have any experience creating one. We spent some time researching different platforms and eventually settled on WordPress because it was the cheapest and relatively easy to use. Learning how to build the website took some getting used to and thankfully we had team members who were interested in website design.
Building the content itself was another challenge. We gathered a team of 11 students across the 6 campuses and met regularly to decide the content, delegate who would write which pages, and traded content to review several times before we actually uploaded the pages. The work was all done remotely so students across the region could contribute. We then sought feedback from other students and providers and are adjusting the website accordingly.
We are more than happy to provide guidance for other students who want to create their own website and they can reach out to students@msfc.org to be put in touch with us.
How do you think working with students from other states impacted the website?
Working with students across the our region expanded the range of information and experiences represented on the website. Each student suggested topics to include from their own observations of challenges unique to their home state. Together, we filled in the potential knowledge gaps in providing abortion care so our final website would be useful for providers across the region. Collaborating also created a sense of solidarity during a difficult and fractured moment in abortion policy and rhetoric across our country. It was a huge comfort to know that students from every corner of our five state region cared intensely about ensuring abortion access in their communities. We were able to process our anger and grief together and channel those emotions into our project.
How do you hope the website impacts people in your region?
With the recent news about SCOTUS likely overturning Roe vs Wade in the ruling of the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, we anticipate an exacerbation of the existing disparities in abortion access across our region. In states like Wyoming and Idaho, it is likely abortion will be banned almost entirely if Roe is overturned. When this happens, it will be even more essential that healthcare providers are informed about their patients’ rights and options for abortion, regardless if they are able to provide abortion in their home states. For example, providers will need to know how patients can access medication abortion by mail or how to call an abortion fund to help fund travel to another state. Providers will also serve a critical role in providing non-judgmental, compassionate guidance to patients seeking abortion care who will be facing powerful stigma and fear. We hope this website will be a tool providers can use as they navigate these uncertain times and serve as advocates for patients in their communities.
What are some tips you would share with others interested in building a website for their region?
Invite students from across the region to collaborate on the website. If your region includes multiple states, try to make sure you have at least one contributor from each state. We also were able to include general information about abortion counseling, advocacy, inclusivity etc. that was not region-specific in part because we had so many collaborators with unique interests. Reach out to departments within your school and to local organizations to see if they’d be interested in featuring your website on their lists of resources for providers or students.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless as we face terrifying changes in abortion legislation. As medical students, our voices serve a valuable role in advocacy for our patients and communities. You have the power to confront fear and stigma with truth and to share the resources within your community that will continue to make abortion possible.
By Felipe on April 27th, 2022. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
This session on providing safe abortion in rural and low-resource settings explores service delivery bottlenecks and discusses ways to expand access to safe abortion by highlighting innovative success stories enabling this access.
Francis Makiya is a medical doctor currently working as the District Medical Officer for Mwanza District in Malawi. He has interests in strengthening health systems, health rights, and policy advocacy. He is a board member of the International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma (inroads). He has been volunteering with the Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (COPUA) in Malawi for the past eight years advocating for change to reform restrictive abortion laws. He served as the founding chairperson for Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) – Malawi chapter.
Francis Makiya, District Medical Officer for Mwanza District, Malawi
In Malawi, abortion is legally restricted. There is only one medical school with around 700 medical doctors working in government serving 19 million people. Maternal mortality is high at 439 deaths by 100,000 live births, and abortion-related death is among the top 5 causes of maternal death. Misoprostol is available; however, accessing a prescription is a challenge and requires secret referral systems where private clinics and NGOs conceal the actual reason for the prescription.
Providing safe abortion remains a challenge in rural and low-resource settings like Sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 97% of abortions performed are unsafe. Rural and low resource settings are typically poverty-stricken and have poor health systems and weak governing institutions. Individual, community, and systemic factors often limit access to safe abortion.
Advocacy in rural and low-resource settings requires influencing local leaders and decision-makers and building an environment conducive to enabling people to exercise their rights by changing laws and policies. Collaborating and networking with grassroots movements and local and regional organizations is crucial to accessing technology and networks. The Harm Reduction model is a valuable tool to reach underserved rural communities and reduce public health risks as seen through telemedicine examples include HowToUseAbortionPill, Women on Web, Hesperian Health Guides, Aunty Jane Hotline (0800-721530), and the Ipas Health Link.
By Felipe on March 15th, 2022. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
As in 2020, in 2021 the COVID-19 restrictions continued to negatively impact MSFC’s capacity to administer the Abortion Training Funding Programs—the Reproductive Health Externship (RHE) for medical students and the Training to Competence Externship (TCE) for residents. Despite many disruptions caused by travel restrictions and other safety considerations, a total of 41 medical students participated in the RHE and 13 residents completed the TCE program. This volume of participation is on par with 2020.
These 54 participants came from 41 schools and training programs, and were able to schedule their externship placement at one of the 28 host facilities that accepted participants this year.
Here is what some of the participants said after completing their training experience:
I really loved this experience a lot. The patients and providers were very nice and focused on training me. They asked me about my goals on the first day and focused on meeting them throughout the training. I worked a lot on my hands on skills, and I always felt like I was needed around the clinic. The patients were great, and I had a very amazing experience – definitely my best rotation in general. I felt very inspired to continue this type of training and work in my future career.2021 RHE Participant
It was an incredible experience. I got more hands on opportunities in 2 weeks than I had in 2 months of medical school. The doctors were amazing and since it was a small family practice, I felt more like a team member than a student hovering in the corner.2021 RHE Participant
[The RHE] It is a unique experience that most students are not exposed to during their medical school training. There is so much to learn from not only the medical aspect but also from the team work amongst doctors, social workers and other healthcare professionals that is essential in providing safe and competent patient care.2021 RHE Participant
Program Impact
To evaluate the outcomes of these programs we ask applicants to complete a survey before and after their training, here are some of the highlights from 2021’s evaluation.
Program participants were asked to indicate how knowledgeable they felt about key abortion provision and reproductive health topics, on both the pre- and post-externship surveys. Results show an increase towards “very knowledgeable” on all categories:
Intention to Provide Abortion Services
Another topic we explored among our participants was their intention to provide medical and/or surgical abortion services in their future practice. Although this was already high on the pre-externship survey, we see a slight increase on intention to provide on the post-survey results.
Additional Training
On the post-RHE survey, participants were asked, on a scale of 1 through 5—with 1 being not likely and 5 being very likely—, how likely were they to pursue additional abortion training? The average response was 4.7.
By Felipe on December 17th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post, Featured Article
Many of the recent abortion restrictions limit access to abortion training and education, making MSFC’s work more essential than ever. MSFC is working to create well-trained, empathetic physicians who can center the patient experience, reduce health inequities, and offer the full range of comprehensive reproductive health. Check out the videos below to learn about how MSFC is working to ensure medical students can access abortion training regardless of the state they go to medical school in; to create more expansive educational opportunities and provide expertise and perspective to all students.
By Felipe on November 16th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post, Featured Article
First published in September 8, 2016.
As a first year medical student, I let my doubts get in the way of my education. I was intrigued by the idea of abortion education, but I missed out on Medical Students for Choice’s 2014 Conference on Family Planning (CoFP) because I wasn’t confident enough to make the trip alone. I worried that I would be judged for going and that my safety might be compromised.
That changed after becoming president of my school’s MSFC chapter. I felt compelled to learn more about abortion and family planning. I didn’t want to just say that I supported a woman’s right to choose; I really wanted to understand the issues surrounding reproductive healthcare. Together with my fellow leader, Claire Meikle, we dove head first into the world of Medical Students for Choice.
The author and her co-student leader.
We began the year by attending the 2015 Conference on Family Planning in Philadelphia, PA, and it was such an amazing experience! From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with open arms and were already known by name from our previous MSFC leadership involvement. We heard from amazing speakers from all over the world (we even made our moms attend so we could attend *every*single* breakout session!). We connected with leaders of other chapters and learned some amazing content that we then brought back to improve our own chapter. At the conference, I was able to not only learn more about reproductive health care, but also gain a better understanding of my own beliefs. I was encouraged to push myself out of my comfort zone to continue my abortion education. I took all that I had learned from the conference and all of the questions that I still had and carried them with me to the Abortion Training Institute later that year. Since then, I developed an entire Family Planning course for our school and am currently leading a research project on family planning education for medical students.
No matter how far you are into your medical education, you will gain so much from MSFC’s conference! From the guest speakers to the hands-on training sessions, there is something for everyone. No matter your hesitation, fear not—the CoFP is a safe and welcoming place to start or expand your family planning education. (Plus, it’s a great excuse to travel!)
While I know that medical school can be overwhelming and there’s never enough free time, attending MSFC’s Conference on Family Planning is a valuable experience that is worth the time away from campus.
Are you convinced yet? Ready to register? Sign up here!
By Felipe on November 08th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post, Featured Article
Last month, we heard from Kizza Blair, a fifth-year medical student from Gulu University his account of the East African Regional Meeting. “We were trained on legal aspects of reproductive health, the life of an advocate, primary health coverage, healthcare in a resource-limited setting, and dynamics of family planning and safe abortion. Lastly, we had an opportunity to have a hands-on experience with Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) for surgical abortion using melons and pawpaw role-playing for female reproductive organs.”
The student-led planning committee hosted this regional meeting for students from 5 countries to come together and learn from sexual and reproductive health experts from throughout Africa. All participants were asked to complete a survey before the conference, recording their self-assessed knowledge on SRH topics and their attitudes towards abortion and patients seeking abortion. After the completion of the regional meeting, participants filled out another survey. The changes in participants’ knowledge and attitudes were astounding!
Attitudes were measured on a five-point scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree) using the value statements from IPPF’s “How to Educate about Abortion: a Guide.” We asked five questions to measure their attitudes. Responses on the post-meeting survey indicate that through education and conversation about abortion, participants moved toward a more accepting outlook on abortion on all five questions.
The East African Regional Meeting was a great success and we are so proud of the students who organized and administered this program!
By Felipe on October 25th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post, Featured Article
Medical Students for Choice wrapped up another successful Abortion Training Institute (ATI) season earlier this fall. These virtual ATIs allow highly motivated students to learn many aspects of abortion in an intense, small group learning environment. Students learn about the clinical aspects of first-trimester abortions, examine their own biases and values, and hear from abortion providers about their experiences, challenges, and motivations. Fifty students from 46 schools were accepted. Each student received a training kit in the mail to participate in an Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) workshop to gain facility and familiarity with the equipment.
Reproductive health is a vital part of medicine (and life), no matter what specialty you go into. Unfortunately, most medical school education is still very limited on reproductive health, despite how often it is encountered in practice, which leads to confusion and misinformation, even amongst health care professionals. These classes have been phenomenal in bridging that gap.ATI Participant
Students walk away from the ATIs feeling more knowledgeable about abortion-related topics. Based on the results of pre-ATI and post-ATI tests, students reported being significantly more knowledgeable around the techniques of first-trimester procedural and medical abortion, identifying products of conception, and legal restrictions in the U.S.
When looking at the proportion of students who rated themselves a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 knowledge scale (1 being not competent and 5 being very competent), all changes in knowledge were statistically significant with a p-value of <.0001.
Even among this highly self-selected group of participants, the ATI clarified and solidified these students’ intention to provide abortions in their future careers. For students that indicated future provision was unlikely, their desire to enter a specialty further removed from reproductive health care was the main reason given.
We asked participants to indicate how much of an impact the factors would have on their ability to provide abortions. Below are the percentages of respondents who indicated factors would have a high impact. As you can see, anti-choice legislation was the factor students believed would have the highest impact on their careers.
For me, a big part of medicine is social justice. Becoming an abortion provider is an incredible way I can fulfill that mission. MSFC is helping me reach that goal by providing clinical training, tools, and resources not included in my curriculum.ATI Participant
By Felipe on October 18th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post
In 2021, MSFC continued to experience a wave of interest, with new chapters popping up in new areas across the world. We asked two student leaders some questions to gain their insight into why they decided to start a chapter at their university. Here’s what they had to say:
What made you want to start an MSFC chapter at your university?
There was a gap in access to reproductive health services and information including abortion care. There was no student-driven kind of arrangement available to enhance mentorship, leadership, and service provision for reproductive health, including abortion. So, when I was informed by the late student leader Rossette about MSFC and what it does, I fell in love with the idea and wanted to engage in MSFC in my time as a medical student to apply reproductive health knowledge in my practice. Most importantly, it looked like a grand opportunity for me to exercise my potentials in leadership, organization, and networking here at home and abroad.Henry, Student Leader, MSFC Chapter in Soroti, Uganda
I attended the Reproductive Justice Leadership Program offered by AMSA last semester; it was an enlightening experience. I couldn’t believe that my education had been lacking so much that the stigma around Family Planning, being in control of our bodies no matter our race or gender, is being dictated by people who aren’t educated on what each community needs and is biased towards what they believe. I wanted to bring MSFC to my university and region so that we could start the conversation so that we could become more open-minded to any future patient’s needs.Olivia, Student Leader, American University of the Caribbean
Why is it important that sexual and reproductive health (SRH) advocacy and education be brought to your campus (or region)?
My university is a community with over 90% of its students in their reproductive age. This implies a necessity for access to reproductive health information, education, and services. Although many university students are not minors, I mean they have their beliefs and rights. So, it is important that they are empowered to be able to come up with informed decisions on aspects such as abortion, Family planning, and belonging to LGBT community or not.Henry, MSFC Chapter in Soroti, Uganda
It’s important to have this level of advocacy and education in my region because a lot of us want to learn, but we don’t have access to the resources, and a lot of hospitals don’t offer the training provided by MSFC. Even if the training is never used, it’s important to have it so that we can guide our future patients to what is best for them, even if that is outside of our personal comfort zone. I think that this should be a part of our school curriculum so that we are able to help any patient we have.Olivia, American University of the Caribbean
How does being an MSFC student leader align with your future plans (Career, Interests, or other)?
I am a medic, and my life will be medicine as I want to pursue being a medical specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology and public health. I realized being an MSFC leader puts me at the forefront of all the activities which are a reflection the experience needed in those fields.Henry, MSFC Chapter in Soroti, Uganda
My future plans include being a trauma surgeon or disaster medicine ER physician. So, while I might never encounter a patient that needs guidance about sexual and reproductive health or an emergency abortion, I don’t want to limit my education on something that may benefit the one patient out of a hundred. I want to be able to provide the best care I can to any patient that I encounter and make them feel heard and understood.Olivia, American University of the Caribbean
If you or someone you know is interested in starting an MSFC chapter at your school, visit our Get Involved webpage for more information.
By Felipe on October 11th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
With in-person events ramping up this fall, the University of Utah SOM MSFC leaders wanted to keep Medical Students for Choice and reproductive health topics at the forefront of our classmates’ minds. We also wanted to raise additional funding to use to help us put on events throughout the year, as well as to send members to the MSFC conference. To accomplish both of these goals, we decided to host a fundraiser at a local brewery to give students and healthcare professionals an opportunity to socialize and relax while also learning more about joining and/or supporting MSFC.
Salt Lake City is home to a variety of microbreweries, and we felt hosting our event at one would be an effective way to both support a local business while providing an interesting event for our classmates to attend. The brewery agreed to donate 20% of their sales from the evening to our cause. We made the event more appealing by also emailing local businesses to collect raffle donations (MSFC has sample letters here you can use to ask for in-kind donations). Their enthusiasm for our cause was refreshing and several businesses donated amazing prizes, including $100 equipment rentals, enormous gift baskets, and unique artwork. To boost our direct donations, we asked people to pay $2 per raffle ticket to increase their chance of winning a prize. We also asked for direct, private donations to our MSFC account for people that couldn’t attend. To boost attendance, we used Facebook, Instagram, and class time to promote the event to the entire UUSOM student body (use MSFC’s design resources to create social media posts).
University of Utah SOM MSFC Chapter leaders at the fundraiser table.
The turnout for the event helped us realize how many amazing healthcare professionals in Utah understand the need to protect organizations that promote reproductive justice. We estimate that over 100 medical students, physicians, and nurses attended the event leading to over 100 in person donations and several private donations. Because of the great turnout, we were able to raise almost $3,000 for our chapter! We’ve already used some of the money to organize a patient abortion panel featuring one of our MSFC leaders, which 60 students attended. This month, we have plans to host several IUD insertion workshops, sponsor a rural reproductive health talk, and discuss racial disparities surrounding reproductive health. People who attend our events have been discussing the impact learning about abortions has had on them and how that changes their perspective on reproductive rights. We already feel we are making progress to help our community.
I encourage other MSFC chapters to investigate unique ways to fundraise money and promote MSFC’s mission. For some quick advice:
- Set a target dollar amount that you are trying to raise. This helps you figure out how much needs to go into planning the event—a smaller goal will likely require less work than a larger one. Our target goal was $1,500.
- If you choose to hold your fundraiser at a local restaurant/brewery/etc., let the owners of the business make most of the decisions regarding timing of the fundraiser. I gave them a range of dates that worked for us, and they decided on a time. 4-7 PM on a Saturday worked well. They know when their business is busy and when sales will be high.
- Incorporate multiple streams of income into the fundraiser. The brewery donated 20% of the sales from the night to our group. This was only about $600. Most of our donations came from the raffle and private donors.
Good luck and get out there!
By Felipe on October 04th, 2021. Posted under: 2021, Blog Post
Medical students from different parts of gathered for a regional meeting to harness their abortion service delivery and advocacy skills.
Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) is a non-profit student-led organization that has tirelessly, through the numerous grassroots chapters worldwide, extended not only equipment and materials necessary for safe abortion training but also created a safe space where young people like me with a dream of becoming pro-physicians can go ahead achieve it. For over two decades, MSFC has been dedicated to generating a pool of safe abortion service providers and advocates worldwide, and amazing work has been done in the marginalized parts of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, where I come from. My country of origin is Uganda. I’m currently in my final year pursuing a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery at Gulu University, where I happen to serve as the chapter leader of the MSFC Gulu chapter. I attended the East African regional meeting on the 4th of September 2021, where the majority of chapters from East and central parts of Africa were represented both physically and online. Students at the conference came from Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. In this regional meeting, we were trained on legal aspects of reproductive health, the life of an advocate, primary health coverage, healthcare in a resource-limited setting, and dynamics of family planning and safe abortion. Lastly, we had an opportunity to have a hands-on experience with Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) for surgical abortion using melons and pawpaw role-playing for female reproductive organs.
What did I learn from this regional gathering as a future pro-physician in Africa?
First and foremost, I learnt how to confidently use an MVA to initiate termination of a pregnancy or complete an underway process (Comprehensive Post Abortion Care), a lifesaving skill that the majority of our universities have denied us through our medical school training. Secondly, I learnt how to strongly advocate for curriculum reform in my university and advocate for safe abortion care to be adopted in the constitution as part of healthcare because, truth be told, it is. Events like this as so pivotal in our careers as service providers, Did my life change?! Definitely it did!
