Overview
The two-year Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship Program is intended to provide additional clinical and academic experience for individuals who have completed a basic residency program in obstetrics and gynecology and who wish to pursue careers as clinician educators or investigators in academic medical centers. The program is based in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
The Section of Gynecology maintains a referral practice of pediatric and adolescent gynecology within the Division of Adolescent Medicine. The Division of Adolescent Medicine also houses the teaching program for pediatric residents, ob/gyn residents, University of Cincinnati medical students and the multidisciplinary fellowships in Adolescent Medicine. The Cincinnati Children's Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship Program seeks to create a new model of gynecological care, in which expert gynecologists work side-by-side with a multidisciplinary team of providers to provide comprehensive care for girls with complex reproductive health issues.
Only four obstetrics-gynecology subspecialty fellowships are recognized by the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ABOG):
- Reproductive endocrinology and infertility
- Maternal-fetal medicine
- Gynecologic oncology
- Urogynecology / reconstructive pelvic surgery
It is not likely that the subspecialty of pediatric and adolescent gynecology will be recognized as an additional formal area of subspecialization in the near future, given its small area of concentration and ABOG's philosophies about the impact of subspecialties on the discipline of ob/gyn. Nevertheless, the subspecialty of pediatric and adolescent gynecology is a viable area of focus within the field. There are approximately 350 members of the professional organization, the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG), comprised of both pediatricians and gynecologists. The Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology lists a number of objectives related to pediatric and adolescent gynecology.
Few medical centers have expert faculty or the established patient population to support clinical training in pediatric and adolescent gynecology. Nationally, Cincinnati Children's has the largest full-time gynecological faculty of any institution serving only children and adolescents. As a result, it has drawn national attention for its leadership in:
A primary goal of the fellowship program is that graduates of the fellowship program will pursue careers as clinician educators or investigators in academic medical centers, and will work to improve health care services and professional training in pediatric and adolescent gynecology.
It is expected that fellows in pediatric and adolescent gynecology will supervise resident physicians, medical students and other trainees in our multidisciplinary clinic. As residency trained, board-eligible Ob-Gyn physicians, these fellows will be eligible for hospital privileges at Cincinnati Children's and will practice independently in caring for basic gynecologic problems in adolescents. Their activities will be closely supervised by the faculty fellowship director and other faculty gynecologists in a graduated fashion. Complex clinical cases, including but not limited to surgeries for complex genital anomalies, will require supervision and direct oversight by faculty physicians. Fellows will be supervised by three experienced pediatric / adolescent gynecologists, with gradually increasing independent clinical responsibilities during clinical sessions.
Fellows will also be expected to participate in research activities. Research in the Division of Adolescent Medicine focuses on three areas:
- Sexually transmitted infections
- The effect of puberty on young women's reproductive health
- Adolescents with chronic medical illnesses
The research training program in the Division of Adolescent Medicine includes the following components:
- Didactic program focused on patient-oriented clinical research
- Mentored research project
- Dcholarship Oversight Committee
- Evaluation procedures
This program is directed by Jessica Kahn, MD, MPH, the Director of Trainee Research, and Lorah Dorn, PhD, the Director of Research. Each fellow in the Division is assigned to a Scholarship Oversight Committee comprised of members both inside and outside the fellow's area of expertise. This committee meets with the adolescent medicine fellow twice per year to provide guidance and support and to ensure that fellows are making progress in their research efforts. It is our expectation that the fellow in pediatric and adolescent gynecology will participate in this research mentoring.
