Curriculum

Residents participate in an advocacy curriculum led by assistant residency program director Katherine McHugh, MD. The curriculum includes sessions throughout the year culminating in an annual state lobby day at the Indiana State Capitol. Each year the department and local American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) chapter sponsor resident attendees to ACOG's Congressional Leadership Conference (CLC).

IU Health Academic Health Center (AHC) includes IU Health University Hospital, IU Health Methodist Hospital and Riley Maternity Tower. All hospitals are in downtown Indianapolis near the IU School of Medicine Indianapolis campus. The AHC includes a large obstetric unit caring for high-risk and normal-risk obstetric patients. The unit has a high-risk service that receives patients referred from throughout Indiana. Additionally, the Health Net obstetric service is cared for by OB-GYN residents and a team of nurse midwives and physicians from this Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC) practice. Subspecialty services include gynecologic oncology, minimally invasive surgery, perinatology, reproductive endocrinology, and infertility.

At Eskenazi Health (formerly known as Wishard Memorial Hospital), an acute care facility operated by Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation, a large population of general obstetrics and gynecology patients are considered high-risk based on their prior access to care and underserved status. Eskenazi Health’s Outpatient Care Center is an outpatient facility associated with the hospital. The resident continuity clinics are housed at these sites, allowing residents access to a large, urban, underserved population.

Residents in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology participate in a robust didactic curriculum that provides a comprehensive educational experience. Protected education time occurs weekly from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm and follows the educational objectives provided by the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Lectures are recorded on video to provide additional learning opportunities. Monthly surgical and technical simulations help reinforce concepts taught throughout training. Residents are also involved in medical student education in both small group and clinical settings.

Residents participate in a formal fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery curriculum led by the department’s minimally-invasive gynecologic surgery faculty. The goal is to complete the curriculum by the second year of residency. The exam fee is covered by the department.

IU School of Medicine is a national leader in focused LGBTQ care. Department faculty members see patients the IU Health Coleman Center as well as at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Health Gender Health Clinic, where residents spend time during their reproductive endocrinology and infertility rotation. The Gender Health Clinic at Eskenazi is a multidisciplinary clinic where family medicine physicians, mental health professionals, plastic surgeons, OB-GYNs and others come together to provide care for patients.

The IU School of Medicine OB-GYN residency program is a designated Ryan Program Training Site. The Ryan Program, founded in 1999, is a national initiative based at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California-San Francisco. The mission of this national program is to integrate and enhance family planning training for obstetrics and gynecology residents in the United States and Canada.

Family planning and contraception are fundamental to reproductive health, and training is incorporated throughout the four-year residency program. Residents receive training in long acting reversible contraception (LARC) and participate in a values-clarification exercise that allows them to fully explore their personal role in the family planning experience. During the second-year family planning rotation, OB-GYN residents are exposed to adolescent medicine clinics and Planned Parenthood. At Planned Parenthood, residents get experience in colposcopy, LEEP, complicated IUD placement and removal and contraceptive implant and removal. There is an opt-out policy so residents do not have to participate in procedures that conflict with their personal beliefs.

Prior to beginning the residency program, all interns participate in an intern orientation. The orientation occurs at the end of June and is designed as an “Intern Boot Camp” that introduces or re-introduces our new residents to OB-GYN-specific skills and knowledge. The event also includes time for OB-GYN residents to complete some of the administrative duties that need to be finished prior to residency.

Each spring, all residents in the OB-GYN residency program participate in an all-day, educational retreat. Faculty cover for the residents at each site the night prior to the retreat and during the day so all residents are able to attend. The retreat is designed to provide time and education for residents to improve their skills as teachers. Recent topics include giving feedback, teamwork, teaching in the operating room, communication and preparing for life after residency.

Events are scheduled throughout the year to improve team chemistry and promote physician wellness. Team-building events have included ropes courses, laser tag and other activities designed to improve communication and camaraderie.

OB-GYN residents not only serve their patient population, but also serve their community. Residents and faculty come together several times a year to complete service projects that help us to stay in touch with the community we serve. Past projects include delivering Mother’s Day goodie bags to a local domestic violence shelter, clothing drives and participating in walks with various organizations.