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Beyond the Pill promotes access and equity in contraceptive health care. We build the research foundation to transform clinical care and patients’s lives worldwide.

The Beyond the Pill program partners with health care providers, researchers, and educators to improve access to contraception and reproductive health care. We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, and educators that contribute to science, policy, and clinical practice change in the US and globally through research, training, and education. We are science-driven and continuously innovating to improve contraceptive care and reproductive health.

Beyond the Pill is a program of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco. UCSF is the nation’s leading university exclusively focused on health. Celebrating more than 150 years since its founding as a medical college, UCSF is dedicated to transforming health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Research

Our research program aims to improve contraceptive care in the US and globally through changes in access, care, and policy. We study underserved populations, including adolescents and people in low-resource settings, with the goal of reducing health disparities and improving reproductive autonomy.

Provider shows a young patient an IUD in an exam room.

Our research focuses on:

  • Improving access to contraception and care.
  • Translating evidence to practice and policy.
  • Understanding contraceptive decision-making, use, and pregnancy outcomes.
  • Promoting access to contraception, safe abortion, and new technologies globally.

 

Training

Our training program helps providers to integrate the full range of contraceptives, including IUDs and implants, into routine contraceptive care.  

Provider practicing IUD insertions on a pelvic model
We have successfully trained thousands of health care providers, including community clinics, school health centers, hospitals, agencies with multiple clinics, and peer education groups.

Key features of our training:

  • Up-to-date science and professional guidelines on IUDs and implants.
  • Patient-centered counseling that supports reproductive autonomy.
  • Tested in a randomized scientific trial.
  • CME/CE-accredited by the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Education

Our education program supports the right of all patients to optimal reproductive health. We partner with health and educational organizations to educate young people about their contraceptive options.

Provider using contraceptive counseling charts while discussing with patient.

Our educational program offers:

  • Free or low cost educational tools specially designed for adolescents and young adults, including videos, posters, and counseling guides.
  • Evidence-based educational presentations on IUDs and implants tailored for patients, college students, high school students, and peer health educators.
  • Assistance in developing curricula, strengthening referral networks and increasing outreach.