Abortion Care Hub
Advice for medical students and early-career doctors interested in Abortion Care
Career Planning
There are three main ways to train in abortion care:
- For O&G doctors – An opt-in Advanced Skills Module (ASM) in Safe Practice in Abortion Care. This ASM can be undertaken by O&G trainees (ST6 and above), non-training grades and post-CCT holders. You can find more information here.
- For Community Reproductive and Sexual Health (CSRH) trainees, abortion care is part of CSRH training. You can find more information here.
- The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health’s (FSRH) Abortion Special Skills Module (SSM) is open to both doctors and nurses working in abortion care. You can find more information here.
Find your tribe
Speak to doctors you are on placement with and find out which doctors have a conscientious commitment to safe abortion care. They’re likely to be enthusiastic about having you join them in clinic.
Consider closely allied areas of medicine to gain experience in (e.g. during placements, electives or student selected components) – e.g fetal medicine, antenatal screening, sexual health, early pregnancy, emergency gynaecology, emergency medicine or contraception.
E-learning
RCOG e-learning on abortion care
BSACP Courses
Abortion Care Essentials course
Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) training course
Join us
Join BSACP today! It’s currently free for students and discounted for Doctors in Training. We have a closed online community on NHS networks which is a brilliant resource for learning and networking.
Other organisations
Join Doctors for Choice – It’s £5 for students
Look out for FIGO (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) webinars, can listen back to previous webinars for free. You can find more information here.
The abortion book club meet monthly via Zoom to discuss abortion related fiction.
Twitter (X)
An alternative medical education! Great for networking and finding out about events. Start by looking at who is following and follows BSACP.
Placements at independent abortion providers
BPAS externships. BPAS offers week-long externships for medical students and trainees interested in learning about abortion care.
NUPAS offers on-demand training webinars for GP practices, observation days for medical and nursing students, as well as placements, contact info@nupas.co.uk for details.
MSI Reproductive Choices, also welcome students and junior doctors wanting to learn more about abortion care. Contact services@msichoices.org.uk for further information.
Essay Prizes
There are several annual essay competitions in the field of women’s health. May offer an exciting opportunity to add to your CV.
The Heather Trickey Essay Prize. This prize encourages work reflecting the contribution and commitment of Dr Heather Trickey to finding common ground in the field of women’s reproductive health and women’s rights.
For medical students
Consider doing special study modules or components in abortion care.
Join your medical school’s O&G society. Find out what your local O&G society do to promote abortion education. Lots of abortion providers would be happy to speak at medical student events.
Join your local Medical Students For Choice (MSFC) group, if there isn’t one consider setting one up.
Doctors for Choice have curriculum champions in most UK medical schools. Find out who they are at your medical school by contacting them.
Contact BSACP if you have any further questions, we’d be more than happy to help.
Abortion Care Essentials Course
Run by expert clinical and educational facilitators, this course covers fundamental clinical knowledge for abortion in the first and second trimester as well as the legal, political and social context of abortion.
Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) Training Course
This one-day, hands-on theoretical training course focuses on outpatient management of miscarriage and abortion using manual vacuum aspiration (MVA).
Useful Links
National Providers British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) Established as a registered charity in 1968, BPAS are the leading specialists of abortion advice and treatment…