Predictors of intention to provide abortions after OB/GYN residency training

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 6; p. e0286703
• Main Authors: Kramer, Katherine J, Ottum, Sarah, Chao, Conrad R, Runyan, Aliye, Rappolee, Benjamin, Sadek, Sandra, Jannat, Noor E, Recanati, Maurice-Andre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29-06-2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abortion; Abortion, Induced; Agnosticism; Benchmarking; Chi-square test; Continuity (mathematics); Earth Sciences; Family planning; Family Planning Services; Female; Females; Gender; Gynecology; Heterosexuality; Humans; Intention; Internship and Residency; Male; Management; Medical students; Medicine and Health Sciences; Obstetrics; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Pregnancy; Religion; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Training; Variables; Variance analysis; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286703

Abortion is a common gynecological procedure and plays a central role in women's health and autonomy. To maintain accessibility to abortion, it is important that sufficient obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn) residents intend to provide abortion care after residency. This study identifies factors that influence a resident's intention to provide abortions (IPA) post-training.
A multiple-choice survey, addressing demographics, religious background, residency program metrics, training experience and intent to provide abortions (IPA), was answered by 409 Ob/Gyn residents. Chi-square test was performed on descriptive statistics and continuous variables were tested with ANOVA with p<0.05 considered significant.
Residents with IPA were predominantly female (p = 0.001), training in the Northeast and West (p<0.001), identifying either as non-religious, agnostic/atheist or Jewish (p<0.01), not actively practicing their religion (p<0.001) and leaning democrats (p<0.002). Those with IPA were more likely to train at hospitals without religious affiliation (p<0.008), to train at a Ryan Program (p<0.001), to place strong emphasis on choosing a program with family planning training (p<0.001), to join programs where a significant portion of the faculty performs abortions (p<0.001) and to have completed a higher number of first trimester medical and surgical abortion procedures during the last six months of training (p<0.001).
These results suggest that factors influencing a physician's intention to provide abortions are multifactorial, involving personal and program factors. A model predicting IPA is derived. To maximize IPA, residency programs can increase abortion volume, facilitate additional training and build a supportive faculty.