Implications of Overturning Roe v Wade on Abortion Training in US Family Medicine Residency Programs

As aspiring healthcare providers and administrators, the long-term implications of overturning Roe versus Wade on comprehensive reproductive healthcare access and clinical training are of interest. A few key points in this piece prompted further consideration. First, with nearly one-third of family medicine residency programs located in abortion-restrictive states, this calls into question the breadth and depth of those residents’ training on reproductive healthcare. Additionally, lack of consistency in abortion training across family medicine residency programs can potentially worsen existing gaps in access for early pregnancy loss care and pregnancy options counseling. We are left to wonder how differences in reproductive healthcare training across residency programs have manifested in terms of health outcomes in both abortion-protective and abortion-restrictive states. Perhaps additional abortion treatment and reproductive healthcare training in medical school, prior to family medicine residency, could help to bridge training gaps given the current legal environment.

Secondly, we are curious as to how the overturning of Roe versus Wade has impacted applications and admissions to family medicine residency programs across the United States. While OB/GYN residency programs in states with abortion bans have seen a stark decrease in applications, has there been a similar trend for family medicine residency programs located in abortion-restrictive states? On a similar note, has the specialization of family medicine become less popular as a result of the overturning of Roe versus Wade? Given the shortages of primary care physicians in the United States, we are curious to know how this legislation could potentially impact the number of family medicine physicians going forward. This study prompts the need for further research on the long-term effects of the Roe versus Wade decision, both in terms of patient outcomes and quality of primary care physician reproductive healthcare training.