MSFC Update - November 2004

Organizing Residents: Why Should MSFC Do It?
By Tiffany Wells, MD

Nearly two years ago I was nervously preparing to walk across the stage at my medical school graduation ceremony. In my final years of school I dedicated the majority of my free time to organizing for MSFC on my local campus. As our names were being called, I silently celebrated MSFC’s contribution to the education of my classmates. Most of my colleagues were embarking on their residencies with a complete and accurate understanding of abortion, thanks to our work. A few of my fellow grads and I shared career goals and a commitment to improving access to abortion. I hoped that they would eventually provide abortions. For me, a cross-country move and an Ob/Gyn residency lay ahead.

Now, well into my second year of residency, I continue to be committed and connected to Medical Students for Choice as I pursue my goal of becoming an abortion provider. It’s just not as easy as I thought it would be. The local medical school, until very recently, had no MSFC chapter. There is no formal, standard education in abortion care in my residency program. The majority of the program’s faculty and residents are not actively supportive of my goals. MSFC was a great start to becoming an abortion provider. But right now, that’s all it is — a start.

Through MSFC, our commitment to reproductive choice is fostered and our motivation to seek out abortion training is supported. We leave medical school with dreams of solving the abortion provider shortage and making a difference in the lives of our patients. But we begin postgraduate education only to find more obstacles to training than we thought we’d find. Organizing medical students is only half the answer. Our goal of improving access to reproductive health care cannot be fully realized without including residents in our efforts. We must continue to support medical students as they work to make abortion a part of standard medical education, but we also need to focus on working to reform residency training. Organizing residents is not an insurmountable goal. It will take innovative strategies and a great amount of devotion to organize busy residents. But it is possible, and even necessary. The abortion provider shortage will not be resolved without giving residents the resources, skills and support that are necessary to become abortion providers. When I finish my residency I want to again celebrate MSFC’s contribution to my education and to that of my colleagues. This time though, I won’t hope that a few will include abortion in their practice. Instead I will be certain that many of us will help achieve MSFC’s goal of ensuring safe, accessible abortion for all women.

Tiffany Wells is an MSFC Board Member and 2nd year Ob/Gyn resident
at the University of Alberta.