An educational workshop and student competency in pregnancy options counseling: a randomized controlled trial

We sought to determine the effect of a pregnancy options counseling workshop focusing on communication skills and ethics on medical student competency.

This educational trial randomized 105 third-year students to performance of an objective structured clinical examination before or after participation in the workshop assessed by a blinded reviewer. The primary outcome variable was student-level global competency in options counseling; secondary outcomes included competency components of general communication.

Global competency was achieved by 36% of students in the preworkshop group and 50% in the postworkshop group (P = .16). Students who participated in the workshop demonstrated higher communication skills. Student ratings of objective structured clinical examination quality were 96-100% positive, with 80% reporting an increase in comfort with options counseling and 88% reporting increased comfort with communication skills.

Participation in a workshop focusing on conscientious refusal positively improved communication skills, but did not significantly impact students' competency in pregnancy options counseling.