Effective patient education techniques for preventing unintended pregnancies

: Ample resources exist detailing the variety of contraceptive options for patients who want to prevent an unintended pregnancy; however, few resources provide tools to guide clinicians in best practices for history taking and patient education about contraceptive use. This article attempts to fill this gap by reviewing current recommendations on timing of patient education, techniques to open a discussion, and common patient misunderstandings about pregnancy and contraception.