Program Overview

Boston University Fellowship in Complex Family Planning: Program Aims

  1. To develop outstanding clinical skills and knowledge in abortion and contraception
  2. To learn how to conduct research that is feasible, completable, and meaningful.
  3. To become clear and forceful advocates.
  4. To train others to provide full-spectrum family planning health care.

Special Aspects of the Program at Boston Medical Center

  • Boston Medical Center is the largest safety net hospital in New England with a central mission to provide consistently accessible and exceptional health services to all. 
  • Moderate abortion volume with high complexity
  • Participation in the NIH Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (IPPCR) course to learn how to effectively and safely conduct clinical research.
  • All fellow responsibilities occur on one campus (inpatient as well as outpatient), maximizing fellows’ availability for patient care, research, education, and mentorship.
  • Diverse patient population including community members, referral patients, international and refugee/immigrant patients. 
  • Comprehensive abortion care in both outpatient clinic and in operating room settings
    • Experience with abortion care under local, moderate sedation, and deep sedation ambulatory procedure space
    • Rare need to care for medically or surgically complex patients in main operating rooms 
    • Inductions of labor on labor and delivery with abortions for fetal or patient indications
  • Tremendous support for family planning from the hospital, department, colleagues, and staff
  • Opportunities for reproductive health advocacy at both the state and local level
  • Active research division
    • Member of the Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) and the Abortion Clinical Research Network 
    • Research staff that includes a research manager and a research coordinator as well as part-time research assistants
    • Opportunity to learn about research from various funding sources (federal, foundation, pharmaceutical
  • Diverse Faculty Interests and Experience: faculty work and lead in many aligned areas, including overlapping responsibilities in global health, MFM, addiction medicine, rural/traveling abortion care, racism in medicine, and shared decision-making. 
    • 5 FP fellowship-trained attending physicians in OB/GYN (inc faculty in Global Health and MFM)
    • 2 non-specialist physicians with second-trimester skills (OB/GYN and Family Medicine)
    • 3 nurse practitioners and 1 nurse midwife with specialty in family planning
        • No required OB call, moonlighting available
        • GYN Resident Service Coverage 4 weeks/year (opportunity to collect cases and operate)