University of Texas Southwestern--Austin Obstetrics/Gynecology Program Curriculum

The program curriculum is designed to encompass the full breadth and depth of Obstetric and Gynecologic experience, utilizing the abundant clinical material available in Austin. The experience is designed to encourage the resident to have increasing levels of responsibility for the clinical management of patients as they progress from the PGY-1 to PGY-4 levels. Direct Faculty supervision is present at all levels and will encourage the resident to develop and direct increasingly complex treatment plans. The individual rotations described below are subject to change, based on resident vacation schedules, etc.

OVERALL

The Academic year is divided into ten blocks of five weeks each. The remaining two weeks of the year (which occur in during the last week of June and the first week of July) are designated as a "Transition Block" in which residents are allowed to orient to their new roles as they progress from year to year. New residents will start with an overall orientation program in late June, and during the first week of July will have detailed orientations to their new services. Simultaneously, advancing residents will have the opportunity to adjust to their new roles and graduating Chief Residents will have the opportunity to prepare for their written Board examinations.

Outpatient experiences occur during a number of rotations. At the outset of the program, each resident begins a Continuity Clinic, where she or he will develop a panel of patients who will be cared for throughout the duration of the residency program, in a manner similar to a group private practice.

PGY-1

The PGY-1 Year is designed to allow the newly graduated physician to transition into his or her new role and develop the basic clinical knowledge required to function in both hospital and outpatient settings. The PGY-1 year will be divided into the following rotations:

Obstetrics: (2 Blocks) Covering the Labor and Delivery service at UTMB-Austin Women's Hospital, this service is an introduction to normal obstetrics in the setting of a major inner-city hospital. Night call is taken, typically one night per week by pager. A typical resident daily schedule can be found here. Outpatient experiences are in the fetal testing clinic (NST) and the Continuity Clinic for each resident.

Gynecology: (2 Blocks) Covering the Gynecology Service at Brackenridge Hospital, this service is an introduction to gynecologic care, again in the setting of a major inner-city Hospital. This rotation includes Operating Room experience, as well as exposure to the Emergency Department in the role of a gynecologic consultant under the guidance of a senior resident and Faculty. Night call is limited to availability for emergency surgeries. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-1 assigned to Gynecology can be found here.

Outpatient experiences are scheduled in the resident's Continuity Clinic as well as the Gynecology Clinic.

AP/FP: (2 blocks) This is primarily an outpatient rotation. Two days a week are spent at the Blackstock Family Health Center, which is run by the Family Medicine department, and is located adjacent to Brackenridge Hospital. Residents will have exposure to primary care medicine of non-pregnant patients. In addition, residents will attend various ultrasonography clinics based at the Community Care Health Clinics either on campus or offsite. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-1 AP/FP rotation can be found here.

WPIH: (2 blocks) This is an outpatient rotation located at a local private practice office, Women’s Partners in Health. Resident will be exposed to the outpatient office setting while doing basic obstetric and gynecologic procedures. This rotation will include training in circumcision. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-1 WPIH rotation can be found here.

Night Float: (2 blocks) This rotation is based primarily at UTMB-Austin Women's Hospital, and occurs from 7 pm to 8 am the following morning. The experience includes primary responsibility for Gynecologic admissions, as well as exposure to operative Obstetrics and management of medically complicated pregnancies. The senior resident assigned to this service will back-up the PGY-1 taking night call. A typical daily schedule can be found here.

PGY-2

Obstetrics: (2 blocks) This service will be Brackenridge Hospital in-patient and out-patient obstetrical experience, with emphasis on Ultrasonography, High-Risk Obstetrics, and Reproductive and Family Planning. It will occur at both Labor and Delivery units at Brackenridge Hospital and Planned Parenthood of Austin. Outpatient experiences occur at the Northeast Austin Prenatal Clinic, where routine prenatal care is done under the supervision of the Faculty and a senior resident, and in the resident’s own Continuity Clinic. Experience in basis sonography and high-risk obstetric clinic is also included. Opportunities for research will be available during this rotation as well as an opportunity to take an off-site sub-specialty selective. Research and selectives will be coordinated and approved by the Program Director. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-2 Obstetrics rotation can be found here.

Gynecology: (2 blocks) This rotation is a continuation of the experiences encountered in the PGY-1 Gynecology rotation, with continued experiences in the Emergency Department, Operating Room, and Clinical Wards. Increasing operative exposure and responsibility will be anticipated. The only night call responsibilities will be every other Friday evening. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-2 Gynecology rotation can be found here.

Reproductive Endocrinology/Infertility: (2 blocks) this rotation will be based at the Texas Fertility Center, the offices of Drs. Vaughn, Silverberg, Hansard, and Burger, who are Board-Certified sub-specialists in REI, at various hospitals in Greater Austin. The resident assigned to this service will be exposed to the evaluation and management of infertility patients, to ovulation induction and various assisted reproduction techniques, and to surgical management of infertility. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-2 REI rotation can be found here.

Night Float: (2 Blocks) This rotation is based at Brackenridge Hospital, and occurs in the hours from 7 pm to 8 am. The experience includes primary responsibility for Gynecologic admissions, as well as exposure to operative Obstetrics and management of medically complicated pregnancies in the Brackenridge Hospital's Labor and Delivery unit. The PGY-2 assigned to this service will back-up the PGY-1 taking night call, perform emergency department consultations and admit antepartum patients.

Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit: (1 Block) This rotation provides exposure to the care of critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit at Brackenridge Hospital. This unit cares for both medical and surgical patients, and is under the direction of the Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine faculty of the UT Southwestern--Austin Internal Medicine program. Night call will be in the Intensive Care Unit in rotation. Residents assigned to this rotation will continue to care for obstetric and gynecologic patients in their Continuity Clinics.

Gynecologic Oncology: (1 block) This service will provide an intense exposure to the care of patients with Gynecologic malignancies, including initial evaluation, medical, surgical, and radiation therapy, as well as out-patient care and end-of-life care. The rotation will be supervised by the faculty physicians of Texas Oncology, who are Board-Certified sub-specialists in Gynecologic Oncology. The only night call requirements for this rotation will be the responsibility for ongoing care of in-patients and will be taken from home via a pager. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-2 Gynecologic Oncology rotation can be found here.

PGY-3

Obstetrics: (2 Blocks) This rotation will involve care of complicated Obstetrical patients on the L&D unit of Brackenridge Hospital, an on-going exposure to operative obstetrics, and an introduction to the supervision of PGY-1s. The PGY-3 assigned to this service can expect to be primarily responsible for the care of Maternal-Fetal Medicine service patients on L&D, as well as for the admission of new complicated obstetric patients to that service.

Maternal-Fetal Medicine: (2 blocks) This rotation will be an intense experience in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. The MFM sub-specialist of Texas Perinatal Group and Hill Country Maternal-Fetal Medicine will supervise the resident on this rotation. It will include the in-patient Antepartum Service at Brackenridge Hospital, out-patient experiences in the High Risk OB Clinic at Brackenridge and the offices of the private practices. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-3 MFM rotation can be found here.

Night Float: (2 Blocks) This rotation is based at Brackenridge Hospital, and occurs in the hours from 7 pm to 8 am. The experience includes primary responsibility for all Obstetric patients, exposure to operative Obstetrics, and Reproductive and Family Planning.

Private Gynecology: (2 Blocks) This rotation will provide an exposure to advanced gynecologic surgery in the setting of private community-based hospitals and surgical centers. The rotation will be supervised by a faculty-liaison, Dr. Michael Breen. The resident assigned to this service will have the opportunity to be involved in the surgical and post-operative care of patients from several different community faculty physicians.

Gynecologic Oncology: (2 Blocks) This service will provide an intense exposure to the care of patients with Gynecologic malignancies, including initial evaluation, medical, surgical, and radiation therapy, as well as out-patient care and end-of-life care. The rotation will be supervised by the faculty physicians of Texas Oncology, who are Board-Certified sub-specialists in Gynecologic Oncology. The only night-call requirements for this rotation will be the responsibility for on-going care of in-patients and will be taken from home via a pager.

PGY-4

Obstetrics: (2 Blocks) This rotation represents the culmination of training in Obstetrics. The PGY-4 assigned to this rotation will supervise all students, residents and fellows assigned to the service, interact with the Antepartum Service, and have overall responsibility for all obstetric patients admitted to Brackenridge Hospital. Outpatient experience will be in the resident's continuity clinic, high-risk obstetrics clinic and fetal testing clinic (NST). This resident will serve on the Brackenridge Hospital peer review committee.

Gynecology: (2 Blocks) This rotation serves as the culmination of training in Gynecology. The PGY-4 assigned to this rotation will have overall responsibility for all gynecologic patients admitted to Brackenridge hospital, and will supervise all students and residents assigned to this service. Outpatient experience will be in the resident's continuity clinic, coordinating all outpatient services and scheduling in the gynecology clinics. Night-call responsibility for this rotation is pager coverage of Brackenridge Hospital for emergency surgeries.

Night Float: (2 Blocks) This rotation provides night-time coverage for both the OB and GYN services at Brackenridge Hospital. The PGY-4 assigned to this service will be responsible for supervising all students, residents and fellows assigned to the service, as well admitting new patients to these services.

Outpatient Clinic: (2 Blocks) The PGY-4 resident assigned to this rotation will bear overall responsibility for management of the out-patient clinics, and will serve as the Outpatient Administrative Chief resident, with exposure to the creation of schedules, and will attend various hospital committee meetings. This rotation will also include a focus on Urogynecology. Night-call responsibility for this rotation is weekend-only coverage of Brackenridge Hospital "at risk" in rotation with other residents.

UroGynecology: (2 blocks) this rotation is designed to enable the resident to work with expert, fellowship trained, pelvic surgeons. The OR experience will be with Drs. Antonini and Bruce at area wide private hospitals. Outpatient experience will be in their private offices as well. Night call is pager call for their practices. A typical daily schedule for the PGY-4 UroGynecology rotation can be found here.

Please note: The above rotations are proposed, and may be subject to change.

Conferences

Our didactic lecture series is on Wednesday mornings from 730am to 1pm. There are subspecialty lectures every Wednesday morning starting at 730am followed by a Gyn Planning Conference designed to discuss upcoming gyn cases. Twice a month, UT Southwestern faculty come to Austin to give either a Gyn lecture or an Ob lecture. There are also regularly scheduled M&M, Journal Club, Ethics and Epidemiology lectures. Grand Rounds are given by both upper-level residents and faculty. We have also incorporated UT Southwestern’s reading schedule and online testing into our didactics.