Obstetrics

A core portion of your clinical practicum, this rotation teaches you to manage labor, triage and emergency department patients, with your responsibilities gradually increasing throughout all four years of your training.

You will initially be trained to manage routine obstetrics during the antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum period and will eventually learn how to manage high-risk obstetrics.

Later in your training, you will act as a team leader; this hierarchical structure enables you to learn from our experienced physicians while assuming a supervisory role.

You will see patients in both a regional referral center for high-risk obstetrics and a suburban, community-based hospital which primarily cares for uncomplicated obstetric patients. In the latter setting, you will work one-on-one with community-based volunteer faculty in the management of their patients.

PGY-1

You will be trained to provide normal prenatal care, manage normal labor and perform normal vaginal deliveries. You will also be introduced to operative vaginal delivery, uncomplicated cesarean delivery and how to manage the normal postpartum patient.

You will provide care for inpatients with primarily normal prenatal course and uncomplicated delivery. You will also take part in uncomplicated prenatal and postnatal clinics.

You can expect your experiences to include:

  • evaluation and management of normal labor
  • spontaneous normal vaginal deliveries
  • repair of simple episiotomy
  • high-risk screening
  • basic fetal monitoring
  • sonography
  • basic prenatal care
  • circumcision

PGY-2

You will develop competencies in operative vaginal delivery and uncomplicated cesarean delivery as you continue to develop obstetric skills with a focus on the management of high-risk pregnancies.

You can expect your experiences to include:

  • delivery of preterm and multifetal gestations
  • repeat and complex cesarean sections
  • operative vaginal deliveries
  • complicated vaginal laceration repairs

PGY-3

You will develop competencies in complicated cesarean delivery and lead the labor and delivery team.

You will be expected to be capable of providing complete care for most routine and complicated obstetrics cases.

You can expect your experiences to include:

  • cesarean sections
  • operative deliveries with low forceps and vacuum extraction

PGY-4

During your fourth-year rotation you will receive expert guidance in completing the development of your clinical and surgical skills to be a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology.

You will lead the health team and act as a consultant for physicians managing patients with obstetrical disorders in the labor and delivery unit and emergency room.

In conjunction with faculty, you will provide a leadership role in the teaching and supervision of other residents.

You can expect your experiences to include:

  • leading morning rounds
  • making daily resident activity assignments
  • supervising the continuity of care clinics
  • being a resource for other residents

Caseload

Per 12-hour shift:

  • 4-5 vaginal and/or cesarean deliveries
  • 6-8 ambulatory triage patients
  • 1-2 emergency room consultations

Clinical Sites

Years Taken

(In each year, some combined OB-GYN)

Patient Population

  • women of childbearing age