Contraception: a new practical learning package

A new self-directed learning package was developed to assist medical students learn the counselling and practical skills to enable them to communicate with men and women about contraception and related matters.

This paper describes the package and the way it was facilitated, the students' ratings of the package and their feedback about the session on the first time it was presented at four teaching hospitals.

The students rated the contraception package as average. The reasons given were: no introduction to the contraception session, lack of a trained person to conduct and facilitate the contraception learning session, poor organization at one of the hospitals and too little emphasis on self-assessment. The assumption that the students had a basic hormonal knowledge prior to the contraception sessions was incorrect.

The results suggest the contraception learning package needs a person with contraceptive knowledge, patient-doctor skills and experience with self-directed learning to be present throughout the 3-hour session and for tools to be available that emphasize self-assessment during the session.

The modifications to be made to the learning package include pairing male and female students, a reduction in duration of the learning stations, an additional learning station relating to hormonal contraception, and inclusion of pregnancy and ovulation testing. These modifications were suggested by the participating students.