Background: Research that addresses whether residents are prepared to deliver preconception care and manage medical conditions in pregnant and postpartum women has been scarce since the publication of women's health competency guidelines for internists in 1997.
Purpose: To investigate current attitudes, training, and perceived preparedness in these areas and to explore relationships between resident characteristics and preparedness.
Methods: A 62-item questionnaire was given to 105 internal medicine residents and recent graduates at two affiliated residency programs.
Results: Eighty-five surveys were returned. Most respondents reported that they had minimal training and were unprepared in these areas but felt that learning these topics is important. Perceived preparedness correlated strongly with relevant didactic and clinical training but was not associated with gender, residency track, or career plan.
Conclusions: In light of published competency guidelines, internal medicine training programs should consider adding or increasing curricular content to improve residents' perceived preparedness to deliver care to reproductive-age and pregnant women.