ExPAND Mifepristone
ExPAND Mifepristone, or Excellence in Providing Access to New Directions in Mifepristone Use, is a didactic and technical assistance program to support evidence-based use of mifepristone for early pregnancy loss (EPL) and/or abortion in primary care settings. Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen for medication abortion care that has been shown to improve the treatment of EPL. Yet, research with primary care providers (PCPs) revealed that PCPs face numerous barriers in providing this medication for patients, including restrictions imposed by the US FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and abortion stigma.
Informed by this research, ExPAND Mifepristone’s Co-Directors, Dr. Debra Stulberg, a family physician, and Elizabeth Janiak, ScD, a public health researcher, developed the program to support primary care clinics in overcoming barriers to evidence-based reproductive healthcare. ExPAND Mifepristone is jointly based in the University of Chicago Department of Family Medicine and the Division of Family Planning at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston.
Our Learning Collaborative and Condensed Course programs provide expert guidance and technical assistance in the form of specialized resources and tools, hands-on training, in-clinic didactics, and individualized administrative coaching.
Our Mission
The mission of ExPAND Mifepristone is to integrate early abortion and miscarriage care into primary care throughout the United States with a focus on safety-net providers.
Our Vision
We envision a world where every safety-net primary care provider where people who can become pregnant receive health care, is prepared to offer timely, evidence-based care for early abortion and miscarriage.
PROGRAM: Applications for Spring 2025 cohort are NOW OPEN!
Condensed Course
The condensed course is a free, asynchronous, and synchronous online curriculum that leverages the ExPAND Mifepristone (ExPAND) model to synthesize high quality existing resources from across the reproductive health community in the United States into a structured, digestible format that is feasible to engage.
PROGRAM
Learning Collaborative
The learning collaborative was developed to support evidence-based use of mifepristone for early pregnancy loss (EPL) and/or abortion in primary care settings over the course of one year with individualized technical assistance and sessions to support the implementation of mifepristone.
Learning Collaborative
- Twelve zoom sessions over one year
- Two stakeholders per clinic implementation, and engage in one-on-one technical assistance
- Participants receive expert clinical, policy/regulatory, and technical assistance with individualized support according to a customized workplan
- Clinics participate in evaluation activities, including pre-course assessment and staff engagement in pre- and post- surveys and interviews
- Small grants to each clinic defray start-up costs and protect participants’ time
- Four zoom sessions over 3-4 months
- Participants complete pre-work before each session and create a comprehensive workplan to self-guide their progress
- Participants complete evaluation activities, including pre- and post- surveys
- Applicants for next cohort scheduled to be released in Jan 2024
