The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Program Overview

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The Department's four-year residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology which trains 40 residents annually, is accredited by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and approved by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG). There are 10 residents in each class.

The educational program provides balanced training and progressive responsibility, with equal focus on obstetrics, gynecology and primary care medicine. All experiences during the training period are supervised by the full-time and clinical staff of The George Washington University Medical Center Hospital and limited-service (voluntary) faculty members at the affiliated hospitals.

A resident's time is spent at 3 affiliated hospitals, GWUMC Hospital in downtown Washington, DC, and Inova Fairfax Hospital in the Women's and Children's Center, in Fairfax, Virginia, and Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland.

At the 3 hospitals there are daily clinics and conferences dealing with general obstetrics & gynecology as well as genetics, high-risk obstetrics, family-planning, continuity-of-care, minimally invasive surgery, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology, and urogynecology.

First-year trainees, rotate through Internal Medicine for Emergency Medicine and Geriatrics anesthesiology & the NICU. During the next 3 years, clinical and didactic training includes maternal-fetal medicine, ultrasonography, reproductive endocrinology and fertility, gynecologic oncology, medical genetics, and minimally invasive surgery. Additional time is available for elective studies or research.

At GWUMC Hospital there are approximately 1100 deliveries and 1550 major and minor gynecologic procedures performed annually. In addition to assignments in Labor and Delivery, and participating with in- and out-surgeries and well as in the main-operating room, residents maintain an active outpatient service located across the street from the hospital in the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC). More than 8,400 obstetrical patient-visits and more than 11,000 gynecologic patient-visits take place in the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) annually.

The Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine is comprised of 3 maternal-fetal medicine specialists. At least one-third of the pregnancies cared for at the GWUH are high-risk and there is ample opportunity for learning the management of obstetric complications. Full-time departmental sonography, including detailed fetal anatomical surveys, antenatal testing, and prenatal diagnosis (for example, chorionic villus sampling, amniocentesis, and fetal-blood sampling) are available.

The Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility and IVF clinical activities include over 500 assisted reproductive cycles annually and many surgical diagnostic and management procedures for reproductive disorders. Residents diagnose, admit, and care for women with fertility problems and endocrine disease. They assist or perform laparoscopies, hysteroscopies and other REI procedures and are able to provide continuing care and follow-up for women with these problems. Residents serve a concentrated one-month rotation in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology as PGY IIs and PGY IVs when they attend endocrine and fertility clinic while at GWUMC. Exposure to the lab and research activities is a Program requirement.

The Wilson Genetics Center is comprised of 2 physicians and a genetic counselor in addition to the laboratory staff. The Center offers subspeciality expertise in the field of prenatal diagnosis. Genetic counseling plus biochemical and ultrasound screening are provided in addition to diagnostic testing of chorionic villi, amniotic fluid and blood.

The Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology is comprised of physicians and a nurse practitioner with a variety of skills & expertise.. Special areas of interest include minimally invasive surgery, reconstructive pelvic floor surgery (including laparoscopic approaches), menopause, post-graduate education in obstetrics and gynecology, sexuality, domestic violence, & endometriosis,

The Division of Gynecologic Oncology is dedicated to the management of gynecological malignancies. The clinical services we provide include diagnostic evaluation and screening, surgical treatment(including minimally invasive approaches and including radical pelvic procedures), administration of chemotherapy and post-treatment surveillance.

There is also an interest in clinical research involving malignant diseases of the ovary, uterus, vagina and vulva. Work includes:

Residents participate in all phases of the Department's activities throughout their 4 years in the Program. They are assigned in-and out- patient responsibilities at the 3 hospitals, learning techniques and technologies that prepare them for the various facets of obstetrical and gynecological experiences encountered upon graduation, in a private practice or in an academic setting.