Cross-posted from Ms. Magazine, written by Rohini Kousalya Siva, MD, MPH, MS, National AMSA President. Originally published August 10, 2023.
This September, I will join thousands of medical students applying for OB-GYN residencies in states across the country. For students like me, applying to residency programs is supposed to be an exciting step towards a career in providing quality healthcare to patients in need. After four years of medical school, I am excited to put my skills to use and offer patients quality, comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion care.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s decision to strip away the right to safe and legal abortion has dramatically limited our opportunities to learn. As attacks on reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy escalate, it becomes ever more challenging to provide the patient care that we staunchly believe our patients need and deserve.
Applications for OB-GYN residency programs declined 5 percent nationwide after the Supreme Court struck down Roe, and more than 10 percent in states where abortion is banned.
Like many aspiring OB-GYNs, family medicine and emergency medicine physicians, I will not be applying to residency programs in states with stringent abortion bans. I need a residency program that will offer me an opportunity to build on what I have learned in medical school, and practice the skills needed to provide quality, evidence-based care—an opportunity that I would not get as a resident in any state that has banned or severely restricted abortion. READ MORE…
