What We Do -> Annual Meeting

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MSFC Annual Meeting
April 5-6, 2008
Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN*

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 29, 2008

NEW FINDINGS IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: 15 YEARS OF FILLING THE GAPS IN MEDICAL EDUCATION

MSFC’s 15th Annual Meeting: An opportunity to learn from respected health professionals about a range of reproductive health issues often missing from medical school curricula, network with other students about the current state of abortion education on campus, and gain strategies to impact the content of medical education and public policy.

This year, as usual, we have a CLINICAL TRACK, which will give you lots of basics on surgical and medical abortion techniques. We are also continuing our ADVANCED TRACK, geared specifically toward residents and 3rd- and 4th-year students.

Sessions this year will explore, among other topics, reproductive health policies that lead to disparities, the impact of Catholic hospital mergers in the US and Canada, the impact of abortion training on medical students, and male attitudes towards pregnancy and abortion. We will also convene our ever-popular Practitioners’ Perspectives, where you can talk to abortion providers in a casual setting about why they became providers, and how their personal lives mesh with their career choices.

Who should attend: Medical students, residents, and other health professionals-in-training who are committed to providing the full range of quality reproductive health care to future patients.

*For security reasons, MSFC does not publicize the location of the Annual Meeting. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with details about the specific location.

Registration costs are as follows: $75 for Medical Students, Residents, and their Guests. $300 for non-medical-student colleague from a pro-choice organization. Hotel rooms average $125 for a two-person room, $135 for a three-person room, and $145 for a four-person room.

MEETING SCHEDULE (subject to change):

Friday, April 4

3:00 pm-6:00 pm: Registration/Resource Center Open

Saturday, April 5

7:30 am-5:00 pm: Registration/Resource Center Open

7:30 am-9:00 am: Regional Networking Breakfast
In a roundtable setting, meet with fellow students and residents from your region to discuss topics relating to reproductive health and medical school education. Other opportunities include caucuses for residents/alumni and osteopathic students.

9:00 am-10:15 am: KEYNOTE ADDRESS:
Legal and Ethical Challenges to the Practice of Reproductive Health
R. Alta Charo, Ph.D. is on the faculties of both the law school and medical school at the University of Wisconsin. Her work is focused on reproductive health law and bioethics. She will address the many ethical challenges facing reproductive health care as well as the effect of the new US Supreme Court on reproductive health practice.

10:30 am-12:00 pm: Concurrent Sessions

• A Matter of Justice: Reproductive Health Policies That Breed Health Inequity
  State and federal policies restricting reproductive health care have a disproportionately harmful impact on low-income women, young women and women of color. In this interactive, case-based session, we will review the deleterious social and health effects of major policies such as the Hyde Amendment, shrinking Title X funding, and mandated parental notification.
  
• Words of Choice: Combating Anti-Abortion Rhetoric
  Learn effective strategies for stating your own beliefs without falling into the trap of no-win arguments. Role-playing will help you practice speaking calmly and with authority when faced with anti-abortion rhetoric. (Enrollment is limited to 80 participants. Pre-registration is required on a first-come, first-served basis. See the registration form.)
  
• Family Planning in Mexico City
  This session will describe the unique challenges of providing healthcare to the urban poor in developing nations with a focus on recent developments in reproductive health policy in Mexico, including the legalization of abortion in the Distrito Federal.
  
• New Frontiers in Contraception (Advanced track)
  In recent years, exciting new choices for birth control have become available, including extended cycle birth control pills, the contraceptive ring, the contraceptive patch, emergency contraception, and new methods for permanent sterilization. In this session, participants will learn about the newest available contraceptive methods, and their advantages and disadvantages for patients.
  
• Abortion Training in Ob/Gyn Residency Programs
  Dr. Mark Nichols (OHSU) and Dr. David Baram (UMN), residency program directors, will present their research on the attitudes and experiences of ob/gyn residents in programs where abortion training is integrated and opt-out. They will discuss the factors that influence resident’s decision-making about providing abortion care.

12:00 pm-1:30 pm: MSFC Luncheon
Join us at this luncheon to celebrate MSFC and network with other students and residents. The winners of the Dr. Elizabeth Karlin Campus Organizing Award, the MSFC Faculty Mentor Award, and the MSFC “Hats Off” Fundraising Award will be announced at the luncheon.

1:45 pm-3:00 pm: Concurrent Sessions

• Access Barriers Caused by Religiously-Affiliated Hospital Expansions
  Most of us are familiar with the way abortion services and reproductive health care are provided in the United States and Canada. For the past ten years, however, merger activity in the hospital industry has created severe access issues for patients of a wide-range of reproductive healthcare services, including abortion, family planning, and infertility services.
  
• How Late is “Too Late”? Considering Our Comfort with Gestational Age and Abortion
  Our personal feelings about gestational limits to performing abortions are complicated by public discourse, like the so-called "partial-birth abortion" ruling. A commitment to choice does not mean one has no doubts, hesitations, or mixed feelings, and consideration of gestational limits can surface them all. This session will provide a safe space to voice your questions and clarify your own beliefs, and to hear from a panel of abortion providers about their own thoughts, feelings and decisions about this complex concern.
  
• Has the Religious Right Overreached? Implications for Reproductive health Providers
  Carole Joffe, Ph.D. will give a brief history of rise and current decline of Religious Right as a political force in U.S. politics—with a specific focus on the “overreaching” of this movement to go after issues beyond abortion itself—including stem cells, EC, and above all, “ordinary” contraception—and what this might mean for those who provide abortions as well as other reproductive health services
  
• Issues in 2nd Trimester Abortion (Clinical track)
  This basic class will discuss techniques used for second trimester abortion. A case studies approach, which will include some cases involving complications, will supplement this session as will a brief discussion of the role of informed consent and counseling. We will also discuss factors contributing to women presenting for abortion in the 2nd trimester.
  
• The Pro-Choice Medical Student’s Guide to Applying for Residency (Advanced track)
  Applying for residency is a challenging process no matter what! If you want to be trained in the full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion, you face some additional hurdles in applying for residency. This panel of current residents will empower you to take charge of the residency application process! From deciding on a specialty and choosing where to apply, to writing the application and planning interviews, you will hear seasoned veterans from a variety of fields describe how they balanced all the issues that go into applying for residency and found the programs that fit their needs.
  

3:00 pm-3:30 pm: Refreshment Break

3:30 pm-5:00 pm: 4 Concurrent Sessions: Practitioners' Perspectives
Join providers of abortion services as they share their stories in an informal dialogue. If you want to know why doctors decide to provide abortions, and what that means in terms of their everyday lives, come to these sessions!

Sunday, April 6

7:30 am - 2:00 pm: Registration/Resource Center Open

7:30 am - 8:45 am: Continental Breakfast

8:45 am-10:00 am: Concurrent Sessions

Male Attitudes Towards Pregnancy, Abortion, and Parenthood

• Faith and Reproductive Justice Panel
  Although the Religious Right gives little airtime for pro-choice religious voices, faith traditions actually have a wide range of beliefs about abortion and reproductive choice. in this session, you will hear perspectives from respected religious figures on reproductive choice and reproductive freedom. Sponsored by Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
  
• Male Attitudes Towards Pregnancy, Abortion, and Parenthood
  Emily Jackson, MD will present her research on male attitudes towards pregnancy, abortion, and parenthood and discuss the clinical and social implications of her findings for reproductive health providers. Participants will have an opportunity to explore the many social issues that influence male attitudes as well as the impact those attitudes may have on their partners.
  
• Methods in First Trimester Abortion (Clinical track)
  This session will describe the methods used in first trimester abortion, including medication abortion regimens as well as surgical abortion techniques. You will also learn about the eligibility requirements for and contraindications to the various methods. Finally, there will be a discussion about clinical and practical issues related to first trimester abortion.
  
• Immediate vs Delayed IUD Insertion After 2nd Trimester Abortion (Advanced track)
  Miriam Cremer, MD will present her research into the efficacy of immediate vs delayed insertion of IUD’s after 2nd trimester abortion. She will discuss the clinical issues and present cases to illustrate her research findings. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and dispel current myths about post-abortion contraception.
  

10:00 am - 10:15 am: Break

10:30 am-11:45 am: Concurrent Sessions

• The Legal Picture: Protecting Women’s Access to Reproductive Health in the US and Canada
  For more and more women, legal abortions are increasingly out of reach, and the gap between those who can exercise their right to reproductive freedom and those who cannot is widening. Speakers from the US and Canada will describe the recent legislative developments and legal issues in each country and share examples of possible public policy solutions.
  
• EC Advanced Edition: The Controversy, the Evidence, and Remaining Questions (Advanced Track)
  Rachael Phelps, MD will conduct an advanced review of the most cutting edge evidence around emergency contraception. We will discuss off-label evidence based EC regimens. We will review the latest evidence around advanced provision of EC on sexual risk taking behavior with a particular focus on the data for young teens, who were excluded from OTC status by the FDA. Because many people erroneously believe EC is an abortifacient, we will examine mechanisms of action and the latest evidence supporting a pre-fertilization effect. We will also discuss the controversy regarding the inability to demonstrate an effect on pregnancy rates at a population level. And for the grand finale we will watch some great EC ads.
  
• Manual Vacuum Aspiration (Clinical Track)
  Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) is a safe and easy method of providing early surgical abortion. It is also used for miscarriage management, treatment of failed medication abortion, or endometrial biopsy. MVA provides a low-tech alternative to electric vacuum aspiration that is gentler and quieter and is used throughout the world in low resource settings. The session provides a hands-on learning opportunity using papayas as a uterine model.
  
• The Reproductive Health Externship: A Powerful Learning Experience
  A physician mentor and former externs will describe the externship experience as well as discuss the program data showing its impact on student’s attitudes and knowledge about abortion. This program provides financial support to medical students and residents for an opportunity to train directly with an abortion provider. Participants will have opportunities to learn about various externship sites and hear about the pros and cons of a range of training settings.
  

12:00 pm-2:30 pm: Luncheon and Closing Plenary
Join us at this luncheon to celebrate MSFC and network with other students and residents. At 1:15 pm, we will move on to the closing session:

Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion in the US and Canada: How We Fail Women
The US and Canada have some of the worst reproductive health outcomes in the developed world; worse even that many developing countries. Why are we failing to prevent unplanned pregnancies? What can we learn from Europe’s successes? Dr. Rachael Phelps will examine in depth how our reproductive health policies set women up to fail to prevent unwanted pregnancies and then punish them with pejorative and restrictive laws when they inevitably need an abortion.

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