Welcome to The Abortion Clinic Toolkit. This is a curriculum and collection of resources for physicians and advanced practice clinicians who are trained in the basics of abortion procedures but want additional training to prepare them to work independently in the outpatient abortion clinic setting. We aim to collate learning materials that you can keep coming back to and that will continue to grow.

Who Are We?

This curriculum was born out of a family planning fellowship research project. Expert clinicians in the field of abortion care have written, edited, and reviewed these materials. Innovating Education in Reproductive Health, a project of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California San Francisco, provided logistical support for this initiative. The Society of Family Planning Research Fund provided financial support.

Purpose

The goal of this curriculum is to help increase the number of clinicians working in abortion clinics. Some clinicians who trained in the basics of abortion care during residency may desire a refresher course so they will feel more comfortable signing up to work in an outpatient abortion clinic, sometimes as the only clinician on site.

Abortion is such a safe procedure that some clinicians may see very few complications during their training (a case of hemorrhage or perforation only happens in 1 out of 500-1000 abortions). Thus, additional training in these rare situations can help clinicians feel equipped to provide quality care.

The topics selected for inclusion in this curriculum were recommended by a panel of freestanding abortion clinic experts. In 2018, we conducted a modified Delphi process in which we surveyed a geographically diverse group of abortion clinic experts (thirty-three physicians, advanced practice clinicians, and managers). We are immensely grateful to the panel of experts for sharing their knowledge and experience to inform the curriculum. For additional details about the results of the Delphi process, or any other information about the curriculum, please contact us.