In the spring of 2010, Dr. Duane offered an introductory course on fertility awareness based methods (FABMs) to a select group of first year medical students at Georgetown University. The response was overwhelmingly positive with students sharing the following feedback about the class:
“This was, by far, the best class I have taken at Georgetown. Dr. Duane did an amazing job organizing the course. The guest speakers were phenomenal. I strongly believe that EVERY medical student should at least have an introduction to NFP. Thank you so much for this course!”
“This selective gives my medical education renewed purpose. It amazes me every day how spending a few short minutes to teach these non-invasive, simple, inexpensive methods can make an infinitely greater difference in the lives of our patients, more than any sort of medical procedure or exam.”
“This selective has had the most impact on me out of the entire first year curriculum. The students who had the opportunity to take this class are, in my opinion, at a huge advantage to their peers. We will have future patients who may be interested in this as a form of family planning, and it would truly be a disservice if we did NOT have the expertise to counsel them regarding these effective methods.”
“How privileged we are to be able to learn this information from the very sources, the very teachers, the very researchers who have labored to bring these methods to fruition worldwide.”
Inspired by these comments, Dr. Duane connected with Dr. Bob Motley, a fellow family physician, who shared her vision that modern FABMs could be better accepted in medical education if health care professionals were presented with the scientific evidence behind them. Together, they planned the first meeting for physicians and others interested in working together to educate health care professionals abut FABMs. This meeting, held in October 2010 at the annual Family Medicine Education Consortium conference, marked the beginning of this critical collaborative effort to educate our colleagues.
Since then, FACTS members continue to meet in person once or twice a year and in between work via conference calls and e-mail to carry out this important mission. Since almost all of our FACTS members have other primary responsibilities, we are grateful for the time and talent that our colleagues contribute to help make this initiative a success. We hope you will consider joining our effort.