![Sample our Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5944/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Medicine-Dentistry-Nursing-Allied-Health.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Background
Following the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision, access to abortion education is increasingly regionally dependent. Participation in values clarification workshops on abortion can improve abortion knowledge and reduce stigma. Traditionally, values clarification workshops occur in person, yet medical education increasingly utilizes online learning. We sought to understand how a virtual platform impacted medical students and Obstetrics and Gynecology (ObGyn) residents’ experience with a values clarification workshop on abortion.
Methods
We conducted values clarification workshops over Zoom with medical students and ObGyn residents at four midwestern teaching hospitals from January 2021-December 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. We held semi-structured interviews with participants and facilitators to learn about how the virtual format impacted their experience with the workshop. Four researchers analyzed transcripts using an inductive approach to generate codes then themes.
Results
We interviewed 24 medical students, 13 ObGyn residents, and five workshop facilitators. Participants and facilitators found the virtual platform to have both unique advantages and disadvantages. Four central themes were identified: 1) Screen as a barrier: participants noted obstacles to conversation and intimacy. 2) Emotional safety: participants felt comfortable discussing sensitive topics. 3) Ease of access: participants could access virtual workshops regardless of location. 4) Technology-specific features: Zoom features streamlined aspects of the workshop and allowed for anonymous contributions to discussion.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that a virtual platform can be a convenient and effective way to deliver values clarification workshops on abortion, and this technology could be leveraged to expand access to this training in areas without trained facilitators.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Andrea Zorbas, Sharon Blohowiak, Amanda Wildenberg, and Kelly Winum for administrative support. The authors also thank Nathan Jones and the UW-Madison Survey Center.
This project was partially funded through a departmental grant. TMV is a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) student funded in part by the CORE Lab, funded by a large, anonymous family foundation, and in part by Medical Scientist Training Program grant T32GM140935. ESC is an MSTP student and was supported by an NLM training grant to the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine Training Program (NLM 5T15LM007359) at UW-Madison, and in part by MSTP grant T32GM140935.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethical
Ethical approval has been waived for this study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Minimal Risk IRB in August 2020, reference 2020–0803. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.