Interprofessional Education in Abortion and Contraception

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Dates: October 3, 5, 17 & 19, 2023
Delivery: Synchronous Online
Lead Faculty Contact: Danielle LeBlanc

Course Description:
Abortion was completely decriminalized in Canada in 1988. It is a common and safe sexual health service, with one in three women/people with a uterus in Canada experiencing abortion in their lifetimes. Abortion care is provided by nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, social workers, pharmacists, and others, yet abortion care is noticeably lacking from curricula across the health professions. Students in the health professions are unaware of how often abortion is relevant to practice areas outside of abortion clinics, including but not limited to community health, emergency departments, family practice, primary care, school health and public health. Addressing social stigma about abortion begins with normalizing abortion as health care. The shortage of trained providers of care is one of the most persistent limits to abortion access in Canada, particularly for people in rural and remote communities. The objective of this course is for an interprofessional team of facilitators to introduce interprofessional abortion care to students across the health professions at Dalhousie University, to learn with, from and about each other’s roles in this essential health service.  

This online, synchronous interprofessional (IPE) mini course is designed to introduce students to abortion care (including aspiration and medication abortion), the legal and regulatory context governing abortion in Canada and specifically Atlantic Canada, counselling and social support in abortion care, and contraception options to reduce unplanned pregnancy and increase reproductive autonomy.