Misconceptions and Information Sources in Undergraduate Reproductive Physiology Education

In light of the overturning of Roe v. Wade & the emergence of medically unfounded laws, understanding undergraduate (UG) students' knowledge on reproduction is vital. Undergraduate (UG) students represent the future voters & leaders in our country. We believe it is important to understand their knowledge of this aspect of physiology given the importance of reproductive freedoms & their connection to medical knowledge. Currently, there is little information about these topics reported in the literature. We surveyed UG students to gather their understanding of reproductive knowledge relevant to abortion & the source of this knowledge. We asked the following research questions: 1. What relevant knowledge do UG students have concerning reproductive physiology related to pregnancy & embryonic development? 2. What sources of knowledge do UG students disclose about these topics? A survey was designed to assess UG knowledge of reproduction & pregnancy-related topics including definitions & timeline of pregnancy, heart development, pain sensation, & age of viability. Five open-ended questions assessed student knowledge of these topics. Each question was followed by the open-ended question of “How do you know this information?” The survey was distributed on social media by members of the research team. In total, 72 responses were collected between July 2022 & February 2023 & then analyzed. Question responses were analyzed using multiple rounds of coding, as described by Saldana. First, research team members sought ‘answers’ for each content question using medical journals & textbooks. Next, all responses to that content question were reviewed by the researcher who compiled ‘correct’ answers using an open coding process. Responses were scored for correctness & assigned a code. Source of knowledge responses were scored by a single researcher using an initial framework informed by Hadad and Simonson et al. The initial codebook for each question was presented to the full research team for review & critique. This was followed by code mapping for each survey question & a second round of coding. All rounds of coding used the constant comparative method & changes to codes or code assignment were discussed to consensus. Coding choices were entered into a spreadsheet for ease of comparing the relationship between answer correctness & source of knowledge. Overall, 38 correct answers within 360 content question responses (10.6%) were provided by participants. Two content questions had no correct answers provided. Participants had various misconceptions about the definition of pregnancy, the timeline of pregnancy & the developmental processes & timing within the human embryo/ fetus. The sources of knowledge were grouped into 6 categories – content expert (10%), formal source (14.4%), informal source/ popular culture (9.4%), personal experience (0.5%), personal knowledge/ opinion (19.4%), & no source (46.1%). Only six correct answers were claimed to be known because of knowledge conveyed by a content expert or peer reviewed source (15.8%). This study begins to address this gap in our knowledge concerning UG student knowledge & their misconceptions of human reproduction. Given the absence of pregnancy information in national learning objectives, it might not be surprising that so few students were able to provide a correct answer & that they didn’t cite a content expert or peer-reviewed source as the source of this knowledge. However, if we intend to educate the next generation of voters & leaders, how are we providing them relevant knowledge to the current events of our day? This study underscores the need for educational adjustments to enhance UG understanding of reproductive physiology in the context of contemporary issues. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.