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Welcome to ARSHEP, the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Education Project.

ARSHEP is a comprehensive educational tool for adolescent reproductive and sexual health.  Created for clinicians, residency programs, medical educators, and individual learners, the ARSHEP modules provide a curated set of lectures, created as PowerPoint slide decks, that can be freely downloaded, modified, and presented to audiences of clinical providers including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and others who provide care and services to adolescent patients.  ARSHEP also includes patient-interaction videos, which provide demonstrations for learning and discussion.

Initially developed by Physicians for Reproductive Health (www.prh.org), the ARSHEP lectures are now a project of Advocates for Youth, and are currently being updated with a new look, up-to-date research and recommendations, and AMAZE videos.  AMAZE videos, created to provide sexuality education to young teens ages 10 to 14, are included as a resource that can be brought into clinical settings to enhance patient education. To learn more about AMAZE and how to use the videos and resources in clinical settings, please visit amaze.org.

The ARSHEP lectures are free to use, and may be downloaded to use in providing trainings to clinician audiences, or may be read as a learning source for individual learners.  All lectures were created with the collaboration of a faculty of physicians across the country with extensive experience in Adolescent Medicine.  Want to request a faculty member to provide training directly, either in-person or virtually?  Contact Tonya Katcher, MD, at tonya@advocatesforyouth.org.

Click any of the modules below to access the full ARSHEP curriculum.



Unit 1: Best Practices for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Care

Module 1. Adolescent-Friendly Health Services - Newly Updated!

This module describes elements of adolescent-friendly health services, strategies for providing youth-centered care, and techniques for conducting a thorough, nonjudgmental patient interview.

Module 2. Providing Confidential Reproductive and Sexual Health Care

This module explores the importance of confidentiality in adolescent care and laws regarding minors’ access to reproductive health services.

Module 3. Physicians as Advocates for Adolescent Sexual Health

This module explores the how and why of clinicians using their voices to support policies and practices that support positive adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Module 4. Cultural Responsiveness and Adolescent Health - Newly Updated!

This module explores the relationship between culture, social inequities and health in the context of adolescent health and the importance of countering bias and acting with humility.

Module 5. Collaboration or Coercion

This module explores the framework of reproductive justice as it applies to the care of adolescents.

Module 6. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)

This module explores prevalence, risk factors and indicators of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and the role of clinicians in responding to it.

Unit 2. LGBTQ Essentials

Module 1. Caring for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth

This module explores the healthcare needs of LGBTQ youth and strategies for delivering LGBTQ-friendly health care.

Module 2. Caring for Transgender Adolescents

This module explores in depth the assessment and care of transgender and gender-diverse adolescents.

Unit 3. Sexual Health

Module 1. Beyond Abstinence and Risk: A New Paradigm for Adolescent Sexuality

This module identifies limitations of the “Abstinence-Only” and “Sex-as-Risk-Taking” paradigms and describes an alternative approach to adolescent sexuality.

Module 2. Sexual History-Taking: Essential Questions - Newly Updated!

This module explores skills for taking a comprehensive, inclusive sexual health history with adolescent patients, to increase provider confidence.

Module 3. Male Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health

This module explains the specific sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent males, and explores how to deliver male-friendly care.

Module 4. Essentials of Contraception for Adolescents - Newly Updated!

This module explores contraceptive counseling and contraceptive methods.

Module 5. Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC)

This module describes counseling for and use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), including subdermal implants and intrauterine devices.

Module 6. Emergency Contraception (EC) and Adolescents

This module discusses all aspects of emergency contraception and its provision to adolescents.

Unit 4: Sexually Transmitted Infections

Module 1. STIs: Epidemiology, Testing, and Treatment for Adolescents - Newly Updated!

This module describes testing and treatment of the most common sexually transmitted infections among adolescents.

Module 2. HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Adolescents

This module explores Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for adolescents, including clinical guidelines for providing PrEP for teens.

Module 3. Human Papillomavirus and Adolescents

This module explores the epidemiology and clinical elements of HPV infection in adolescents, as well as prevention through HPV vaccination.

Unit 5: Pregnancy Options

Module 1. Pregnancy Options Counseling with Adolescents

This module reviews best practices for pregnancy options counseling with adolescents, including provider values clarification and the importance of unbiased counseling.

Module 2. Caring for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents - Newly Updated!

This module explores how to counsel and care for adolescents who are parenting or who are expectant or considering becoming parents in a way that is affirming and non-shame-based.

Module 3. Abortion and Adolescents

This modules explores pre-abortion counseling, a review of medical and surgical abortion methods, post-abortion care, and common questions and misperceptions about abortion.

Module 4. Adoption and Adolescents

This module describes how to counsel a young person who is considering adoption for their pregnancy.

Case Videos

The following are videos created by ARSHEP faculty members that can be used as teaching tools to explore best practices in caring for adolescent and young adult patients. The videos show a mix of great interactions and not-so-great interactions, all of which are intended to stimulate discussion with trainees and learners.

Case Video 1: Annual Visit, Abuse at Home

A clinic visit for a suspected urinary tract infection reveals more serious concerns.

Case Video 2: Caring for a Young Person with a Chronic Condition

These videos demonstrate how to initiate conversations around sexual health with patients receiving ongoing care for chronic health conditions.

Case Video 3: Asking a Parent to Step Out

Demonstrates how to ask parents to step out to allow teens to talk privately with their clinician.

Case Video 4: Requesting Birth Control, Young Adolescent

A provider counsels a young teen about birth control and healthy sexual relationships.

Case Video 5: Coming Out

In these scenarios, a long-time patient comes into the clinic with stomach issues but is also struggling with his sexuality.

Case Video 6: Sexual History Taking and Gender

These videos highlight the experience of a transgender patient visiting a new primary care provider for care unrelated to his gender identity.

Case Video 7: Sports Physical and Sexual History

These scenes demonstrate how a typical sports physical is also an opportunity to discuss sexual health.

Case Video 8: Male Adolescent Reproductive Health

These two videos present essential discussions to have with young men and reveal an opportunity for practicing culturally competent care.

Case Video 9: Long-Acting Reversible Contraception

In these scenarios, a patient’s concerns over irregular bleeding while on birth control pills lead to a discussion about longer-acting methods and highlights an opportunity for shared-decision making.

Case Video 10: Drop-in Visit for Emergency Contraception

Demonstrates repeated requests for emergency contraception and explores the relationship between identity and behavior.

Case Video 11: Annual Visit, Sexually Transmitted Infections

These scenes focus on a patient in a long-term relationship, not currently using condoms, who suspects a sexually transmitted infection.

Case Video 12: STI Screening

In this scenario, the provider discusses STI screening options with a patient whose girlfriend has asked that he get tested before they have sex.

Case Video 13: Discomfort Wearing Condoms

A suspected sexually transmitted infection leads this provider to discuss why patients should consistently use condoms. Both scenarios demonstrate how providers can facilitate condom use.

Case Video 14: Unintended Pregnancy

In these two videos, a visit for flu-like symptoms leads a provider to discuss pregnancy options and offer referrals for support.

Case Video 15: Hoping for a Positive Pregnancy Test

In these two scenes, a young patient seeks pregnancy and the provider has an opportunity to offer information and support.

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