What We Do -> Curriculum Reform

As with much of our work, curriculum reform is largely a grassroots effort by medical students themselves. The MSFC national office helps by providing resources and information, but our successes are above all a story of the successes of determined students around the country:

• At Dartmouth, students established an Office of Women in Medicine and a pre-clinical elective that addresses issues of reproductive health.
• At the University of Washington, MSFC students initiated and helped design a new elective that combines readings, lectures, a symposium led by practicing providers, and time observing at a local clinic.
• Harvard students introduced the Reproductive Health Elective of the American Medical Women's Association and organized a collaborative forum, which included both pro-choice and anti-choice students in the planning process and on the panel.
• MSFC students at Thomas Jefferson University developed a "clinical correlations" program called "Understanding Contraception and Explaining it to your Patients," presented by a physician in the Department of Family Medicine.
• Students at Baylor made arrangements with the local Planned Parenthood to allow student observation.
• University of Massachusetts students initiated an optional six-week seminar series on the history of abortion, the epidemiological and public health aspects of unintended pregnancy and abortion, methods of surgical and medical abortion, and the skills needed for pregnancy options counseling.
• Stanford students instituted an annual conference on abortion, which invites providers from different specialties and practices to share their experiences and perspectives with students.
• At UC-Davis, MSFC students reintroduced abortion into the curriculum by working with local providers to write a course module for the third-year ob/gyn rotation and to develop electives for fourth-year students who want to learn abortion procedures.

These are just a few of the stories of student efforts from around the country. For more details to guide your own work, contact us.

We have also produced A Medical Student’s Guide to Improving Reproductive Health Curricula, to assist medical students interested in reforming their school’s curriculum. This publication was originally produced by AMWA and Medical Students for Choice and is now a joint publication of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) and Medical Students for Choice. Please follow the link above to access this guide on-line. For more information or for assistance with curriculum reform, contact ARHP at (202) 466-3825 or curriculum AT arhp DOT org or MSFC at (215) 625-0800 or info AT ms4c DOT org .