With the assistance of their health care providers, women have been adjusting their menstrual cycles for years, usually by eliminating the hormone-free week in an oral contraceptive regimen. Recent advances in hormonal contraception have allowed women even greater control over their menstrual cycle, predominantly related to the type of hormonal contraception they elect. To assist both patients and health care providers in understanding these new options, the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) is launching Choosing When to Menstruate: The Role of Extended Contraception, a continuing medical education (CME) program on the topic of hormonal contraception, particularly as it relates to extended and continuous contraception and patient counseling.

You may request an ARHP speaker to present this medical education lecture at your event, including clinical conference or grand rounds session. Speaker honoraria and travel expenses will be covered by ARHP. To request a lecture, please click here to complete and submit the form.

For more information, please contact the Choosing When to Menstruate program manager, Allison Tombros, MHS, at atombros@arhp.org or (202) 466-3825.

Background

This program expands upon a successful previous ARHP program, Extended and Continuous Use of Contraceptives to Reduce Menstruation. The program also utilizes findings from a 2005 ARHP survey evaluating patient and health care provider attitudes and perceptions on menstrual bleeding and menstrual suppression. The survey showed that many women do not understand their menstrual cycle and what affect hormonal contraceptives have on their cycle; have a negative attitude toward their period; and when presented with the idea of menstrual suppression, many women expressed interest. Additional information about this survey can be found at http://www.arhp.org/2005menstruationsurvey/.

Recent needs assessments on this topic clearly document a need for improved health care for women using or considering using hormonal contraception. They also identified inadequate counseling by health care providers as a key factor affecting user satisfaction and success in using hormonal contraceptives. To this end, the goal of the project is to make it more likely that patients using oral contraceptives receive appropriate health care resulting in patient satisfaction and success in using their contraceptive method of choice.

Program Design and Educational Activities

All Choosing When to Menstruate program components are based on the outcomes of national and clinician surveys, expert advisory discussions, and current research on extended regimen contraception.

Program components include:

• Needs assessment review to guide finalization of program objectives and content
• The complete slide set for this program is available online for free at ARHP’s open-access tool, the Curricula Organizer for Reproductive Health Education (CORE)
• National and regional society meeting presentations, including at the at the 2006 annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
• Archived Webinar session
• Mobile CME activity delivered to health care providers’ personal digital assistants (PDA)

CME Curriculum Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of these sessions, participants will be able to:

• Name 3 health advantages of medically reducing menstruation
• Name 4 types of candidates for extended contraceptive regimens
• List 4 hormonal methods for reducing bleeding
• Describe counseling appropriate for women considering using extended contraceptives

Intended Audience and Accreditation

Educational offerings have been developed for health care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, pharmacists, and other professionals) and patients to help better understand options related to extended regimen hormonal contraception.

The curriculum/live sessions and webinar associated with this program are accredited for continuing medical education, nursing contact hours, and pharmacology credits.

Funding

This program is supported by an independent educational grant from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.