Programs strong in OB/ have OB tracks

[medmom]

I am a third year medical student that is very interested in rural family medicine. The area that I want to practice in doesn't have any OB/GYNs for about 70 miles. Therefore, I want to be trained and proficient in both vaginal and C/S deliveries. What programs are very strong in OB, have OB tracks or have OB fellowships? I am originally from Colorado and would love to return to the west but I am not opposed to other places for residency.

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[chartero]

Three hopefully helpful resources:

* The AAFP and STFM maintain a Fellowship Directory for Family Medicine. Note that besides the list of Obstetrics fellowships, most or all of the Rural fellowships include or can include OB, and under Other Types of Fellowships there are fellowships in Women's Health which also do or may.

* The American Board of Family Medicine Obstetrics, cf. recent thread, maintains a list of family medicine obstetrics fellowships they have approved.

At least one famous program with both rural and OB fellowships, Ventura, somehow missed both lists as of this writing. So you may also want to check individual programs.

* Further great reading, addressing residencies and fellowships alike: Wm. MacMillan Rodney's How to Locate Residencies Where Procedural & OB Skills are Taught (Enthusiastically). Fans of full-scope family medicine could spend days at Dr. Rodney's Procedural Skills and Office Technology archive and blog.

 

[elizabeth5863]

You should definitely check out the UC Davis combined Family Medicine/OB residency program. You'll learn how to do vaginal deliveries and C-sections. It's a four year program.

 

[burlypie]

Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency Program is quite heavy on the ob; though some folks do fellowships for more training, you can graduate with 30-40 primary c-sections if you're interested, and TONS of vaginal deliveries.

 

[houseman]

It is easy to access the AAFP site for lists of OB fellowships, it is much more difficult to get a feel from a program when you interview as to whether you will have the skills to do C sections when done. There are several programs that will get you the numbers to do OB with C sections without a fellowship if you look hard and ask the right questions. Duluth, Ventura, Pocatello...

 

[FM guy in KC]

I would add Lincoln, NE and Wichita, KS to that list of programs as well.

 

[Birdeee]

The FP program at Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver WA (across the river from Portland) has a lot of OB.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Our program at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA has an OB track. I am not sure about C-sections though. Worth checking into if interested.

 

[lawj]

Just worked with a resident who is doing a 4 year FP/OB program at St Joe's in Denver.

 

[medmom]

Just worked with a resident who is doing a 4 year FP/OB program at St Joe's in Denver.

Do you know where I could find more information about this? I am from Colorado originally and would LOVE to return there. When I look online I don't see anything about a 4 year FP/OB track. If that is really out there I would be all over it!!!

 

[lawj]

This is the info from the resident, hope it helps:


This is the only fam med program in Colorado that has an OB track and an OB fellowship. Basically after 1st year, if you decide you want to be on the track, you enter it and then are given a large load of OB clinic pts. The family residents also run the labor deck on fridays so you will work many of your fridays there on top of all your continuity OB and OB rotations. You will get to start assisting, then being primary on C-sections. The fellowship is still something you must apply for in 3rd year. If you get it, then you will run the deck, do all your own C-sections, and be in charge of teaching and attending the OB track younger residents. You can see our website at http://www.exempla.org/body_gme.cfm?id=938&fr=true. The best way to get a feel for the program is to come do a rotation during your 4th year before you interview. Make sure to set this up early, as many people I know were unable to get rotations this year because there were so many people applying. Also, Ryan Honey is our current OB fellow. You could contact him for more info regarding the fellowship.

 

[medmom]

Oh my, THANK YOU!!! I think you just made my day. I am so very excited That is exactly what I am looking for

 

[sstringf]

I have posted a new blog upload for “Advanced Family Medicine” - https://advancedfamilymedicine.wordpress.com/
Check it out since your program is included on this list.

After years of being asked about FM residency programs by hundreds of medical students every year who are seeking advanced OB training within their normal design, this is what I have accumulated by word-of-mouth, reputation, and your websites (as best as they can be navigated, and some are challenging to navigate).

The criteria for this list are as follows:
Key Checklist of things to look for in a “strong OB training situation within a residency:

• C-section training as the primary surgeon, not assistant (the sine qua non for strong OB training)
• Unopposed training environment (not competing for cases with OB residents)
• Adequate SVD volume (~ 80-100) and C-sections as the primary surgeon (~ 30-50)
• Majority of FM faculty actually doing and supervising OB
• Enthusiasm for training OB
• Majority of their recent graduates providing OB care in their practices
• More than 3 months of inpatient OB required (5-6 months is the original ideal in FM residencies)
• No anti-FM bias among the OB attendings or OB nurses in the hospital system
• Beware of the OB fellows “cherry-picking” the good cases (C-sections)
• Having faculty who perform C-sections (and other procedures)
• More than 10 deliveries per month as a program (absolute minimum)
• Opportunities to actually learn and become competent in OB procedures (C-sections, OB ultrasound, assisted deliveries, etc…)
• Regular ALSO training is offered, provided, and paid for by the residency for the incoming residents, as well as taught by the FM faculty there.
• Opportunities to learn epidural and spinal anesthesia for OB patients (very much needed in rural settings)
• Strong OB continuity numbers (minimum of 10/residents over 3 years)

This list has been built based upon advice from several of you (I have checked out all the programs that I saw listed on this post on SDN), leaders in the field, and the FM literature emphasizing strong OB training within FM Residency programs.

Not all of these criteria could be determined for all of the programs listed on the Blog Post but this was what I attempted to do.

Promoting this area of advanced training will benefit your passions, our patients, as well as our discipline of Family Medicine.

I have not specifically tried to exclude any program, but tried to do this based upon reputation and what I could determine by their own FM Residency websites.

If you know of other FM programs in the US that should be listed on this post for Advanced OB Training, please let me know (but as noted above, I have checked out all the programs I found n SDN listed for this area).

Send me comments and updates if I have not gotten the details correct, and I will modify accordingly.

 

[sstringf]

It is easy to access the AAFP site for lists of OB fellowships, it is much more difficult to get a feel from a program when you interview as to whether you will have the skills to do C sections when done. There are several programs that will get you the numbers to do OB with C sections without a fellowship if you look hard and ask the right questions. Duluth, Ventura, Pocatello...

Check out my post below.