Chapter 21 - The Role of Students in Advocating for Training in Sexual and Reproductive Health Care

Summary

Medical students are uniquely placed in the medical education system to advocate for improvements in their education. Stigmatized aspects of sexual and reproductive healthcare, such as abortion, are areas where this constituency can be powerful advocates if organized to use their collective power to influence educational change. This chapter describes how efforts by medical students and others to promote the integration of all aspects of sexual and reproductive healthcare, including abortion, within medical education have been effective strategies resulting in greater access to comprehensive education on family planning topics. The authors review strategies medical students have used to reform their curriculum and the spread of medical student activism throughout the world. They also argue for the importance of mentors in supporting medical students, reforming curricula and sustaining efforts across regions, through all levels of medical education, and into medical practice.