Practice in the Best Environment
The clinical obstetrical facilities for the UW SMPH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology are housed at Meriter Hospital, which is the primary site for UW high-risk obstetrics. The Center for Perinatal Care has been a joint program of the UW and Meriter Hospital for three decades. The UW SMPH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has an ABOG-approved residency program with six residents at each level.
Our rotations on clinical services are in one-month blocks: Generally, these one-month rotations alternate between our out-patient prenatal diagnostic center and a clinical-service assignment which includes both in-patient and out-patient clinical experience. The clinical experience also provides at least three separate monthly elective clinical rotations which include a rotation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as well as in Clinical Genetics and Obstetrical Anesthesiology. During these rotations, the fellows have no other commitments, thus providing an intensive and focused clinical learning experience. Faculty supervises and works closely with the fellows on a daily basis, helping structure the rotation to meet each fellow's needs and interests. Faculty supervisors evaluate the fellows’ performance at the end of their rotations.
Fellows attend our weekly Perinatal Conference; a multidisciplinary clinical conference jointly-conducted by the Divisions of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Neonatology faculty. A separate fellow didactic conference series specifically focuses on maternal, fetal, and neonatal physiology which is presented by various subspecialists (UW faculty). An obstetric seminar series is presented by obstetric residents and MFM fellows on an ongoing basis. Through these conferences and seminars, in addition to a combination of specific clinical rotations and direct patient-care experiences, the fellows develop expertise in all areas of MFM.
Graduate courses for our fellows are provided through the UW Graduate School. There are courses on biostatistics and cellular and molecular biology that provide theoretical background to fellows pursuing basic research. Fellows also take a course in ethical and regulatory issues in clinical investigations.