Emergency Contraception Day of Action

As battles over emergency contraception rage in the FDA and in state legislatures across the country, we as medical students can take this opportunity to speak out about the need for EC as an important adjunct to regular contraceptives. Use the materials below to help guide activities at your school on EC Day of Action.

Materials include:

• Suggested Activities for EC Day
  
  
• Emergency Contraception PowerPoint Presentation with speaker's notes to help educate medical students about EC
  
  
• Response to the FDA's open comment period about the Plan B application (the over-the-counter application that's been held up a number of times- FDA Background Info Plan B)
  
  
• Letters to your legislators about the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (these legislative action alerts will also be posted as AMSA action alerts)
  
  
• Press Release Template - EC Day
  
  
• Letters to the editor to send to your local newspaper
  
  
• Search for newspapers in your area
  
  
• Instructions for a pharmacy survey in your area (Pharmacist Education Card & Pharmacist Visit Toolkit) - you can use the survey results to compile lists of EC friendly pharmacies in your area.

Please email me if you have any questions, and thanks for all you do!

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR THE EC DAY OF ACTION

• Have a lunch-time speaker to discuss the uses, importance, and/or controversies surrounding EC. Alternatively, have a student present using the EC Day of Action toolkit powerpoint presentation.
• Host a debate about EC that includes such issues as moral vs. professional obligation, misconceptions about EC, adolescent access, etc.
• Visit local pharmacies and ask them about whether they stock EC and are willing to dispense it. Create a list of EC-friendly institutions that you, other medical students, residents, and others can use. Publicize the list in local newspapers if the pharmacists agree; otherwise, you can publish the statistics about dispensing in your community.
• Send the press release to your local newspapers to make sure that they hear about what you're doing - have a people take pictures during pharmacy visits to send to the local newspaper for a follow-up story.
• Contact congressional representatives about the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act
• Send comments to the FDA for the open comment period on Plan B.
• Send emails to senators to support them in calling for action on Plan B.
• Write letters to the editor about Plan B.