Abstract
Objectives
To describe practice patterns and challenges encountered by Complex Family Planning
(CFP) fellowship graduates.
Study design
We invited all 110 obstetrics and gynecology physicians who graduated from the CFP
fellowship from 2017–2020 via email to complete an anonymous online survey. We inquired
about demographics, intended and obtained postfellowship positions, and successes
and challenges in obtaining jobs. We used Fisher's exact test to assess if the proportion
of graduates who grew up, attended residency, and completed fellowship in a US region
(Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and practiced in that same region differed.
Results
Ninety-nine (90.0%) graduates completed the survey. When entering fellowship, most
(n = 92 [92.9%]) expected to practice in an academic environment. About half (n = 49
[49.5%]) pursued fellowship with the intent to practice in a location with an unmet
need for abortion providers, of which 22 (44.9%) did so. Forty-nine (49.5%) respondents
did not practice after fellowship where they initially intended, citing common challenges
of job availability, family-related concerns, safety concerns, and relationship status
changes. We found associations between regions where graduates completed residency
and currently practice (p = 0.004), driven primarily by higher associations in the South (76.9%) and West (70.6%)
and a lower association in the Midwest (22.7%). We found no association between current
practice region and where graduates grew up (p = 0.15) or completed fellowship (p = 0.23).
Conclusions
CFP fellowship graduates from 2017–2020 primarily intended to practice in academic
environments with half planning to practice in underserved locations. However, more
than half of those who entered fellowship hoping to fill an unmet need for abortion
providers did not do so.
Implications
About half of CFP fellowship graduates from 2017–2020 intended to obtain positions
in areas they defined as having an unmet need for abortion provision. Personal life
and job barriers prevented many from serving in such positions after fellowship. Practice
location intentions and outcomes may be different in a post-Dobbs environment.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 11, 2023
Accepted:
March 1,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 27,
2023
Received:
December 27,
2022
Footnotes
☆Conflicts of interest: None.
☆☆Funding: The study received funding from the Melissa Cooke Johnsen Family Planning and Reproductive Health Fund. M.D.P. and M.D.W. were supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1 TR001860. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
★Presented in part as a poster abstract at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2022 Annual Clinical meeting.
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