Objectives
We assessed healthcare
students’ knowledge and opinions on Argentinian abortion law and identified
differences between first- and final-year healthcare students.
Methods
In this cross-sectional
study, self-administered anonymous questionnaires were administered to 760
first- and 695 final-year students from different fields of study (medicine,
midwifery, nursing, radiology, nutrition, speech therapy, and physiotherapy) of
the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, in 2011-2013.
Results
Compared to first-year
students, a higher percentage of final-year students knew that abortion is
legally restricted in Argentina (p < 0.001). A significantly higher
percentage of final-year students could correctly identify the circumstances in
which abortion is legal: woman´s life risk (87.4% last vs. 79.1% first year),
rape of a woman with developmental disability (66.2% first vs. 85.4% last-year;
p < 0.001). More final-year students chose severe foetal malformations
(37.3% first year vs. 57.3% final year) despite its being illegal.
Conclusions
Although most final-year
students knew that abortion is legally restricted in Argentina, misconceptions
regarding circumstances of legal abortion were observed; this may be due to the
fact that abortion is inadequately covered in the medical curricula. Medical
schools should ensure that sexual and reproductive health topics are an
integral part of their curricula. Healthcare providers who are aware of the
legality of abortion are more likely to provide the public with sound
information and ensure abortions are appropriately performed.
Below: Healthcare students’ knowledge on current abortion law
Below: Percentage of healthcare students who chose the correct answer, by field of study
Below: Healthcare students’ opinion on abortion legislation
By: 
1 Silvia Oizerovich, 1 and Babill Stray-Pedersen 2
1 Silvia Oizerovich, 1 and Babill Stray-Pedersen 2
1Department of OB-GYN, Gynaecology
Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ciudad de
Buenos Aires, Argentina
2Division of Gynaecology and Obstetrics,
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway
Corresponding
author.
Correspondence: Belén Provenzano-Castro, Department of OB-GYN,
Gynaecology Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Int J Med Educ. 2016; 7: 95–101.
Published online 2016 Mar 28. doi: 10.5116/ijme.56e0.74be
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