RESIDENCY APPLICATIONS IN MEDICAL STUDENTS AFTER DOBBS V. JACKSON

Abstract

Dobbs v. Jackson may impact residency program applications because of restricted abortion care. Restricted abortion care has led to a limited scope of practice within physicians who practice OB/GYN care. This has bled into residency program curriculum, indicating that applications to certain schools may go up or down. Medical students were surveyed with a 2-condition experiment to see their program preferences. The experimental group was primed on information regarding Dobbs v. Jackson before answering questions about their preferences for residency programs. The control group was not primed with information prior to taking the survey. The rest of the survey then asked about medical students' residency program preferences. Overall, medical students had significantly higher preferences for Democrat-dominated states. However, there was no evidence of effect from the conditions. The priming did not reveal any significant differences in residency program preference. It would be interesting to gather more data to see if there is evidence of effect. Dobbs v. Jackson is impacting the future of healthcare and may lead to larger disparities in abortion care.