Congress May Put Restrictions On Teaching Doctors To Perform Abortions

[setosnicegirl]

Apparently Republicans aren't satisfied with pushing measures that severely limit the conditions in which a woman can get an abortion. Tomorrow night Congress is scheduled to vote on an amendment that would prevent doctors from even learning how to perform the procedure.

Comments

[piratesswoop]

Do med students usually learn this in undergrad/grad? I always figured it came as specialisation depending on their field--like a dentist wouldn't learn the things a gynecologist or obstetrician would--or is it sort of like a general skill that all med students have to stand in on?

[liret]

Dentists don't go to general med school, so that's not the same thing. (And undergraduate programs are generally pre-med, they give a background in science and anatomy but don't teach medical procedures.)

There's some room for electives, but generally med students learn the basics in everything - it isn't totally specialized until residency programs. I think obstetrics is usually one of the core rotations that all students do, but the problem is that someone can complete their residency and be a full-fledged OBGYN without being taught anything about abortions, even if they're willing to learn.

[carmy_w]

They'd learn it in their residency years, I think. And....

Wow-I was all set to put down that I thought that all OB/GYN residents would learn this, but then I read that statement up above:
'Medical Students For Choice estimates that, "97% of family practice residents and 36% of Ob/Gyn residents have no experience in first trimester abortion procedures," '

That only 36% of obstetrics residents have any experience in the procedure is a ridiculously small number. I can barely understand the family practice docs not knowing, but if a doctor is going to specialize in reproductive medicine, (s)he'd better damn well know how to fix their patients when things go wrong!

[sarken]

If it makes you feel better, I think that says 36% don't have experience -- so 64% presumably do.

...that's still not that many, considering. Damn. :\

[carmy_w]

Thanks-yes it does make me feel a bit better.
But still-more than one in three don't know how to do a standard D&C.
That's tantamount to negligence in my books.

Especially since I understood that a D&C was the standard of care for treatment of Endometriosis at one time-I don't know if it still is or not.

[piratesswoop]

Holy shit, that stat is scary. I don't understand how only 3% of family practice residents and over 1/3 of Ob/Gyns would never have experiences doing abortion procedures. That's just...wow.

[3bird]

OB/GYN clerkships in med school are usually 6 weeks long, so depending on the size of your school's community I suppose it's possible you wouldn't see a D&C until residency.