contraceptives- controversial?

[greeeno]

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[raiderette]

You are overthinking this. This sounds like interesting research.

 

[Tenk]

Pretty much risk free and if it's not you don't want to go to that school anyways.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Especially with the new administration, I don't want to risk jeopardizing my admission chances in the future if someone on the committee say, was pretty against birth control.

You're way overthinking it. I don't know why people always say "with the new administration" as if somehow Trump being president affects your chances at medical school. Contraceptives are largely a non-issue these days. I live in a highly religious area where the majority of docs are religious and every single one of the ones I work with (N>10 and talking about OBs here) are proponents of birth control and family planning.

Sounds like interesting research, go for it.

 

[aprilfools]

The controversy surrounding contraceptives largely stems from mandating religious organizations provide them, not so much with contraceptives themselves. You're fine.

 

[jqueb29]

I don't know why people always say "with the new administration" as if somehow Trump being president affects your chances at medical school.

Lol seriously. As if Trump is appointing med school adcom members

 

[Lucca]

Only at Liberty

 

[Mad Jack]

This isn't controversial at all. And as to contraception being boring- It's way more exciting once you understand the endocrine side of things.

 

[greeeno]

Thanks for the replies! I feel a bit more at ease.

Would this be a different story if it was on abortion?

 

[Kkshake]

I doubt it, research is research. Just because you are researching something doesn't mean you're an advocate for it.

 

[vcupremed]

Thanks for the replies! I feel a bit more at ease.

Would this be a different story if it was on abortion?

Maybe if you were researching how to close abortion clinics more effectively? Otherwise, I don't think so.

 

[CCresearcher]

I volunteer at a women's health clinic that performs abortions. I included this in my activities section and discussed it in some secondaries, and as far as I know it hasn't harmed my application cycle in any way. It's possible, of course, that some of the religiously affiliated schools would look down on this (I didn't apply to any), but even then I wouldn't say it was a foregone conclusion. I was only asked about it during the interviews of my two local med schools, where some students and residents rotate through the clinic, and the questions were more about what my volunteering involved. I haven't had the sense of any judgement.

That said, abortion can be controversial, and including in your application should be a calculated risk. I decided I wanted to include this volunteering because the experience was very meaningful to me, and I couldn't see myself at a school that was outwardly opposed to abortion, but it's a personal decision. Contraceptives, on the other hand, are not widely controversial and should be totally fine.

Bottom line is that medical schools are in the business of training people to be good doctors. As long as your research is legal and ethical, working with contraceptives or even abortion doesn't go against that mission. Might it rub a couple of admissions committee members the wrong way? Sure. Will it be the reason you don't become a doctor? No.

Edited to remove typo

 

[jqueb29]

I volunteer at a women's health clinic that performs abortions. I included this in my activities section and discussed it in some secondaries, and as far as I know it hasn't harmed my application cycle in any way. It's possible, of course, that some of the religiously affiliated schools would look down on this (I didn't apply to any), but even then I wouldn't say it was a foregone conclusion. I was only asked about it during the interviews of my two local med schools, where some students and residents rotate through the clinic, and the questions were more about what my volunteering involved. I haven't had the sense of any judgement.

That said, abortion can be controversial, and including in your application should be a calculated risk. I decided I wanted to include this volunteering because the experience was very meaningful to me, and I couldn't see myself at a school that was outwardly opposed to abortion, but it's a personal decision. Contraceptives, on the other hand, are not widely controversial and should be totally fine.

Bottom line is that medical schools are in the business of training people to be good doctors. As long as your research is legal and ethical, working with contraceptives or even abortion doesn't go against that mission. Might it rub a couple of admissions committee members the wrong way? Sure. Will it be the reason you don't become a doctor? No.

Edited to remove typo

Eh I don't really see the 2 as being comparable. To the general public, abortion and contraception are probably seen very similarly, but almost anybody on an adcom is going to see the 2 as very different. Literally every med student or doctor I know, including myself, who are very opposed to abortion also have absolutely no problem with contraception. There's a good chance at most medical schools that at least 1-2 adcom members would hold abortion related activities against an applicant; with the exception of somewhere extreme like Loma Linda, nobody will see contraception as controversial.

 

[CCresearcher]

Eh I don't really see the 2 as being comparable. To the general public, abortion and contraception are probably seen very similarly, but almost anybody on an adcom is going to see the 2 as very different. Literally every med student or doctor I know, including myself, who are very opposed to abortion also have absolutely no problem with contraception. There's a good chance at most medical schools that at least 1-2 adcom members would hold abortion related activities against an applicant; with the exception of somewhere extreme like Loma Linda, nobody will see contraception as controversial.

That's actually kind of my point. My work at the abortion clinic didn't seem to hold me back (to the extent that one can tell, I was accepted to multiple schools), and abortions are unquestionably much more controversial than contraceptives research. If that's what OP is doing, he/she will likely be fine. There's a good chance OP would be fine even if it was abortion research. Yes, maybe some isolated committee members wouldn't like it, but for the most part these decisions aren't made by a single person. OP might get unlucky with an interviewer with strong feelings, but otherwise it probably won't matter much.

 

[gyngyn]

Eh I don't really see the 2 as being comparable. To the general public, abortion and contraception are probably seen very similarly, but almost anybody on an adcom is going to see the 2 as very different. Literally every med student or doctor I know, including myself, who are very opposed to abortion also have absolutely no problem with contraception. There's a good chance at most medical schools that at least 1-2 adcom members would hold abortion related activities against an applicant; with the exception of somewhere extreme like Loma Linda, nobody will see contraception as controversial.

I have not found LLU averse to applicants with contraception work.