I recently saw a quote from a president of a I hate women and their reproductive freedom organization. The quote goes as follows: “No one goes to medical school with the intent of working in a Planned Parenthood or some other abortion clinic.”
I love (actually hate) when anti-choicers make such blatantly false blanket statements as if they have any knowledge of this particular topic.
The truth is, many people go to medical school for the purpose of becoming abortion providers, as well as all-encompassing women’s health care providers. I am one of those people. I knew before medical school that I wanted to offer abortion services in my practice, and I was determined to get trained during medical school and pursue a residency that would train me to be a competent women’s health care provider.
I’m sure Mr. Wrong would like to believe that we reluctantly step into the abortion provider role because no one else will, or because we are after the money (which isn’t there) or because we like being harassed by psychos. The truth is, we believe abortion is a right and each woman should have the chance to make an informed decision among all her options. I believe that I can only be a good physician to my patients if I offer them all services surrounding their reproductive freedom, not just some.
Unfortunately for Mr. Wrong, there are more and more of us each year. Not all of us enter medical school with the hopes of having the honor to serve women in this way, but many more of us are leaving medical school with that very ambition. This is especially thanks to organizations like Medical Students for Choice and certain residency programs that support medical students throughout their years in medical school and beyond.
Sorry, Mr. Wrong. We are here to stay, and I would be honored to work in a “Planned Parenthood or some other abortion clinic” one day.
So true! I never EVER EVER considered a clinical line of work or anything that involved studying science. However, for the first time in my life I'm thinking I might want to go to nursing school or med school so that I can help provide clinical care in abortion clinics.
ReplyDeleteAs a college student who is planning on going to med school SPECIFICALLY so I can become an abortion provider, I can back this, Vulva Flower.
ReplyDeleteand we're so thankful for all the abortion providers out there! xox
ReplyDeleteI am one of those people.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought that was a hilarious load of crap too. I've also strongly considered going to medical school solely in order to provide abortions where they are inacessible. (I haven't brought myself to do that yet, because ugh, med school life.) But I continue to work in "some clinic" even though I could indeed be working on my resume for a fancier job.
ReplyDeleteI've been interested in working in abortion clinics since I changed careers to the medical field, yet I find it incredibly difficult to get a job at one! I guess there are more people wanting to work in them than there are positions, which is a very good sign =]
ReplyDeleteEmily, from what I've seen, many clinics are barely making ends meet, and I wouldn't be surprised if some have stopped looking for new hires, even though they might need the extra staff -- or are only hiring part-timers to save money on benefits. So they might even want to be hiring but can't.
ReplyDeleteAlso, from your profile it looks like you're in the Bay Area, which is rumored to be a quite competitive place to work in women's health! Lucky for them, as you say. But more rural or conservative areas tend to have fewer people clamoring to work at the abortion clinic. Have you looked outside your metro area?
Long story short, rest assured there are probably a lot of places where your work is desired, but between maldistribution of available labor and the economy being how it is, it's not so surprising you've found clinic jobs to be scarce.