Panakam Aisvarya, Pelletier Andrea, Johnson Natasha R, Royce Celeste S, Lau Trevin C, Bartz Deborah
Fourth-Year Medical Student, Harvard Medical School.
Research Associate, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital.
MedEdPORTAL. 2025 Apr 4;21:11512. doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11512. eCollection 2025.
Exogenous hormones found in birth control methods have contraceptive and noncontraceptive benefits, yet few educational resources exist for medical students to learn about use of hormonal contraceptives in varied patient scenarios.
We designed a curriculum for second-year medical students on the use of hormonal contraceptives in patients with diverse identities and clinical conditions. Students enrolled in a transition to clerkship course participated in an interactive 40-minute large-group didactic, followed by case-based collaborative learning small-group discussions. Cases included a reproductive-aged female patient with a new chronic medical condition, a patient identifying as queer with menstrual irregularities, and a perimenopausal patient with systemic symptoms. Students provided immediate postcourse quantitative feedback, followed by longitudinal qualitative feedback during six consecutive OB/GYN clerkship cycles, regarding the value of the curriculum as preparation for hormone counseling patient encounters. We performed thematic analysis of all qualitative responses.
Of 137 students enrolled, 50 (36%) completed end-of-course evaluation, with 70% evaluating the intervention as or . For thematic analysis, of the 103 eligible clerkship students, 59 (57%) completed the survey. We identified four themes: value of the curriculum as an introduction to hormone counseling; value in recognizing one's own biases in hormone counseling; emphasis on patient-centered counseling; and introduction to value-neutral and nondirective counseling.
Our case-based curriculum introduces hormonal contraception across diverse patient identities and medical indications, resulting in improved student comfort with patient-centered counseling on hormone options. This expansive contraception curriculum can be replicated for other medical trainees across multiple subspecialties.
避孕方法中发现的外源性激素具有避孕和非避孕益处，但可供医学生学习在不同患者情况下使用激素避孕方法的教育资源却很少。
我们为二年级医学生设计了一门关于在具有不同身份和临床状况的患者中使用激素避孕方法的课程。参加见习过渡课程的学生参加了一场40分钟的互动式大组教学，随后进行基于案例的小组协作学习讨论。案例包括一名患有新慢性病的育龄女性患者、一名月经不规律的同性恋身份患者以及一名有全身症状的围绝经期患者。学生在课程结束后立即提供定量反馈，随后在连续六个妇产科见习周期中提供纵向定性反馈，内容涉及该课程作为激素咨询患者问诊准备的价值。我们对所有定性回复进行了主题分析。
在137名注册学生中，50名（36%）完成了课程结束评估，其中70%将该干预评为好或非常好。对于主题分析，在103名符合条件的见习学生中，59名（57%）完成了调查。我们确定了四个主题：该课程作为激素咨询入门的价值；认识到自身在激素咨询中的偏见的价值；强调以患者为中心的咨询；以及价值中立和非指导性咨询的入门介绍。
我们基于案例的课程介绍了针对不同患者身份和医学指征的激素避孕方法，提高了学生对以患者为中心的激素选择咨询的舒适度。这种全面的避孕课程可以在多个亚专业的其他医学实习生中推广。
