Abortion Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Programs in the United States, 1991-1992

According to a 1991-1992 survey of program directors of obstetrics and gynecology residency programs in the United States, the overall percentage of programs providing any training in first-trimester (70%) or second-trimester abortion (66%) has changed very little since 1985. However, the proportion of programs providing routine training in first-trimester abortion decreased from 23% in 1985 to 12% in 1991-1992, and the proportion providing routine training in second-trimester abortion declined from 21% to 7%. The majority of the programs that dropped routine abortion training continued to offer optional training, but residents in programs with optional training were less likely to receive training. More than 80% of programs in private, non-Catholic hospitals and public hospitals provided some form of abortion training in 1991-1992, but only 6% of programs in Catholic hospitals and no military programs did so. In 45% of programs offering abortion training, residents performed one or fewer abortions per week.