Third Year Clerkships
Obstetrics and Gynecology
4 weeks
- Clerkship Director: Sabrina Holmquist, MD, MPH | (773) 834-5129 | sholmqui@babies.bsd.uchicago.edu
- Clerkship Coordinator: Sharon Binion | (773) 702-6726 | sbinion2@babies.bsd.uchicago.edu
Description
The Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkship is a four week primarily inpatient experience, performed at either the University of Chicago or MacNeal Hospital. Students at both hospitals spend two weeks each on the Obstetrics service and a gynecologic surgery service. Students at MacNeal have a primarily low-risk OB and general gynecology experience, whereas students at the U of C see primarily high-risk obstetrics and rotate on either the benign gynecology or gyn-oncology surgical service.
The inpatient portion of the Obstetric service (OBS) comprises caring for pregnant patients who are hospitalized for complications of pregnancy, and for postpartum patients. Labor and Delivery is where the student will follow patients in labor and participate in their delivery. It is a fast-paced experience and consists of 12-hour shifts, approximately half of which will be overnight. All students will also take one 12 hour weekend call during the rotation at the U of C, with option for more call experience based on interest. Students will also spend one half-day per week during the obstetrics portion of the rotation seeing prenatal and gynecologic patients in the outpatient clinic with their senior resident.
During their inpatient gynecology rotation, students will scrub on surgical cases, care for post-operative patients, see ER consultations with their team and attend morning attending rounds. Students at the U of C will be assigned to either the benign gynecology service or the gyn-oncology service; MacNeal students will see primarily benign gyn surgery. Students will spend one afternoon during the gynecology portion of the rotation in colposcopy clinic, where they will perform pelvic exams, pap smears and help with basic office procedures.
Didactic sessions are held at the U of C every Friday for all students on the rotation; in addition, students will have the opportunity to present a clinical case to both the chief of obstetrics and the chairman of the department during the rotation. Each student at the U of C will also be assigned a faculty preceptor who will meet with a small group of students weekly to review key topics.
Clinical Evaluation
Clinical performance is evaluated by the residents and faculty who work with the students on each rotation. Students provide evaluation cards to the residents and faculty with whom they have worked most; these evaluation cards provide both quantitative and qualitative feedback to the clerkship director, who determines a composite clinical grade. This grade, in conjunction with performance on the chairman’s and chief’s rounds, accounts for 60% of the overall grade for the clerkship. Performance on the shelf exam, completion of online clinical cases and the experience passport account for the remainder of the final clerkship grade.
Objectives
At the end of the OB/GYN rotation, students should:
- Understand the basic concepts surrounding reproduction, the physiologic changes of pregnancy, common obstetric complications, the process of labor and delivery and the immediate post-partum period
- Demonstrate physical exam skills necessary to perform a pelvic exam, an exam of a pregnant woman in prenatal care and in labor, and have participated in at least one vaginal and one cesarean delivery
- Understand the fundamentals of common gynecologic issues, including generation of a gynecologic differential diagnosis and understanding of basic treatment options both surgical and non-surgical
- Understand the epidemiology, anatomy, screening and diagnosis of common gynecologic cancers
Evaluation of Clinical Clerks
- 35% NBME Subject Exam
- 5% Experience Passport/Online clinical cases
- 60% Clinical Performance
Required Textbook
- Beckmann et al, Obstetrics and Gynecology; available in the campus bookstore