Exposure to emergency contraception in an undergraduate medical curriculum.
OBJECTIVE
To determine senior medical students' exposure to lectures and clinical experiences on emergency contraception (EC).


METHODS
Ninety third-year medical students at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) were surveyed at the end of a year of clinical clerkship. The survey assessed exposure to contraception, EC, and other reproductive health experiences over the preceding 3 years of medical training, as well as personal opinions about the availability of family planning services. Survey data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 10.0) software.


RESULTS
Seventy-three medical students (47% female) completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 81.1%. Classroom teaching of EC was reported by 71.2% of the cohort. Only 16.9% had counselled women about EC themselves; 33.8% had not been exposed to it at all in a clinical setting. A majority of students (92.5%) stated they would provide services for contraception, but only 7.5% felt such issues were well addressed in the undergraduate medical program.


CONCLUSIONS
Undergraduate medical trainees at UWO perceive that the subject of contraception in general and EC in particular are not well addressed.
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Yasmin
Y
Khan
Nicole
N
Sbrocca
Sanja
S
Stanojevic
Deborah
D
Penava
D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods*; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007434:Intrauterine Devices; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital