To Help Prevent Unintended Pregnancy, Coach the Clinician

Subdermal and intrauterine contraceptives offer high levels of user satisfaction, yet these highly effective reversible methods are used by fewer than 8% of U.S. women. To evaluate whether clinician training in placement of such contraceptives affects counseling and clients' choices, researchers conducted a randomized trial involving 1500 women recruited from 40 Planned Parenthood clinics in 15 states. Clinicians at intervention clinics received a half-day of training designed to improve method-specific contraceptive counseling and placement skills.

In 1 year of follow-up, significantly more women seen at intervention clinics than control clinics reported receiving counseling about highly effective reversible contraception (71% vs. 39%) and …