American Medical Student Association Now Offering Abortion Training Retreats

Medical student group funds abortion training, ‘reproductive justice’ retreats

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) is offering all-expense-paid abortion training retreats for medical students who support abortion access, combining hands-on clinical instruction with advocacy training and “reproductive justice” education.

The four AMSA Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes, held throughout summer 2026 in Asheville, North Carolina, combine clinical workshops with advocacy training as debates over abortion education continue in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Three of the four institutes have already taken place, with the final session scheduled for Aug. 20–23.

Applicants must affirm that “reproductive health services, including abortion care, are essential to comprehensive health care,” that “legal, safe, voluntary abortions should be available to all,” and that both Undergraduate Medical Education and Graduate Medical Education programs “should offer abortion education and training.”

Applicants must also agree to “uphold the fundamental principles of reproductive justice,” which AMSA lists as the right to have children, the right not to have children, and the right to raise children in a safe environment.

Selected students attend at no cost. Scholarships cover travel reimbursements of up to $600, meals, training supplies, and transportation from the Asheville airport. Each institute accepts only 10 U.S.-based AMSA members and includes private bedrooms at a secluded retreat location with opportunities for hiking, hot tubs, and informal discussions.

Clinical sessions feature an MVA “papaya” workshop for manual vacuum aspiration practice and “values-clarification training.” Additional topics include the impact of the Dobbs decision, medication abortion, self-managed abortion, advocacy messaging, networking, and identifying “reproductive freedom champions.”

AMSA states the the institutes aim to prepare “highly skilled, culturally sensitive physicians” ready to provide abortion services and to build a “diverse physician workforce.”