Expanding Self-Injectable Contraceptives in the US from a Person-Centered Perspective [Video]

December 1, 2023

In this Grand Rounds presentation, Dr. Karlin will focus on her research in expanding injectable contraceptives in the US for self-injection. She will trace three steps of a research program thus far—starting with an implementation project at the Family Health Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, to qualitative interviews with patients in San Francisco and Washington State, to a nation-wide survey and interviews of interprofessional health care providers about barriers and facilitators to expansion of the contraceptive. Tracing these three arms of this research program so far and discussing next steps, Dr. Karlin will use this example of expanding self-injectable contraceptives to illustrate how research can remain centered on equity, sustain a person-centered lens, and develop more formal research plans from an emergent need.

Dr. Karlin, MD, PhD, is a board-certified family physician and fellowship-trained family planning specialist who completed her residency and fellowship in this department and currently is on faculty at UC Davis. She focuses on expanding and supporting reproductive and sexual health through primary care. Trained as an anthropologist and historian of medicine, her research addresses how we can alter health care relationships and systems to encourage patient empowerment, autonomy, and equity. Additionally, Dr. Karlin is committed to medical and resident education that encourages physicians-in-training to approach their practices from an historical, trauma-informed, and self-reflexive perspective to improve quality of care and decrease additional trauma caused by the medical system.