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The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine is organized into the following divisions: Gynecology and General Obstetrics, Gynecologic Oncology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Urogynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and Midwifery.
The Department’s mission is a commitment to a multidisciplinary team approach to women’s healthcare, clinical education and research. Our mission is to add value to our hospital, its medical school and our community for the benefit of our patients. We strive to deliver compassionate patient care, educational excellence and to create and expand knowledge of women’s health through basic and clinical research.
In order to foster educational excellence, the department is responsible for instruction of medical students in all three phases of their curricular development during the four years in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook. During the Phase 1 curriculum, the Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) course allows students to be taught basic clinical skills that will be used for the rest of their careers. This course also introduces them to the nuances and importance of communication and collaboration with their patients. Phase 1 students also have an intensive three-week Reproductive Endocrinology System Pathophysiology course. Building on and expanding the students’ knowledge of the basic sciences obtained in their first year, this course reviews aspects of sexual development, human reproduction and diseases that affect these areas.
During Phase 2, the Clinical Clerkship in Obstetrics and Gynecology, a 6-week core curriculum rotation, expands the student’s understanding of the issues patients face in the office and in hospital care settings with regards to pregnancy and diseases that affect the reproductive tract and the endocrine system that regulates it. Educational objectives are attained through nationally recognized learning objectives reviewed in lectures, labs, simulations, case based learning, and clinical experiences in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Students gain experience by developing a rapport with patients, performing history and physical exam skills, assessing different diagnoses and their accompanying appropriate treatment planning. Students are exposed to the preventive medicine aspects of the discipline, such as family planning, adolescent development, annual cancer screenings, and routine prenatal health. Treatment modalities can then range from evidence based medical management to cutting edge surgical interventions.
In Phase 3, for those students who desire greater immersion into the field of obstetrics and gynecology than permitted by the core curriculum, Sub I’s and Electives are offered in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (high-risk pregnancy), Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Gynecologic Oncology, Urogynecology, Gynecology and Sonography. Those students interested in pursuing research in the field, can join in our numerous and diverse faculty research projects as well as develop independent student research projects in basic science, clinical or educational areas.
The department offers an accredited four-year residency, which includes training in all aspects of obstetrics and gynecology. The program provides a structured educational experience that is planned in continuity with undergraduate and continuing medical education. Participants are afforded structured, sequentially developed exposures using a continuity of care model in the ambulatory and inpatient setting. This includes primary medical management and a variety of surgical experiences appropriate to the level of training.
The Department offers a three-year ACGME accredited Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship training program. The program objective is to train specialists in Maternal-Fetal Medicine who, in addition to having expertise in clinic practice, research, and public health, will have the skills needed to excel in the ever-more challenging environment of academic medicine. Each graduate of the Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine will have the knowledge and skills to act as a consultant to general obstetricians as well as to participate in regionalization of perinatal services active in improving the delivery of healthcare to designated populations. The educational program of this Fellowship is also designed to generate a completed, hypothesis based, research thesis during the Fellowship. Fellows are expected to involve themselves in the education and mentoring process through didactic lectures, structured educational experiences, 360 degree evaluations, and involvement with OBGYN Resident physicians, medical students, and undergraduate students. Each Fellow will be adequately prepared to achieve subspecialty certification by the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and then proceed to develop successful careers in academic medicine.
The department offers a two-year Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship training program that is structured to provide the fellow with all aspects of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, research endeavors and educational opportunities. Surgical training is a key component of our MIGS fellowship. Our MIGS division provides a robust surgical program with focus on advanced laparoscopy including hysterectomy, myomectomy and endometriosis surgeries, utilizing a balance of conventional laparoscopy as well as daVinci robotic surgery. Four main surgical approaches: laparoscopy, robotic surgery, hysteroscopy, and vaginal surgery are all encompassed. Emphasis is placed on pelvic anatomy to allow the fellow to become confident in navigating all pelvic spaces when encountering complex surgical cases. There are two opportunities a year to participate as a teaching proctor in a pelvic anatomy cadaver lab as well as an animate lab laparoscopy workshop allowing the fellow to gain skills and to teach house staff as well. A simulation lab with a laparoscopic pelvic trainer and robotic simulation is available to the fellow at any time.
The department also offers a two-year Global Women’s Health Fellowship. This is a two-year fellowship that incorporates clinical, teaching, and research responsibilities at Stony Brook Medicine and Hospital Central de Maputo in Mozambique. The fellow will graduate with an advanced degree in public health and will graduate equipped to run global health program that focuses on capacity building in women’s health, clinical education, program development and/or program implementation. In the first year of the fellowship, the fellow will work on G-local (Local-Global issues). G-local issues include issues of health disparity and health equity in the local community. During the G-local portion of the fellowship the candidate will focus on service to the uninsured and underserved communities in Suffolk County. The fellow will be required to serve as an attending at the Access-Gyn clinic once per month which is the free gynecology clinic offered by the Stony Brook OBGYN department and will be required to perform outreach and service to one of the following: Riverhead Jail or Shinnecock Indian Nation on Long Island. Outreach may include education or direct services on site. Clinically, during the first year, the fellow will sharpen skills needed to work skillfully in Sub-Saharan Africa. They will work primarily as a Laborist, focusing on management of complications of labor and the top three causes of maternal mortality worldwide: Hemorrhage, Hypertensive diseases, and Infections. On average they will work 10 shifts per month on Labor ward. This will help them to sharpen their skills in dealing with common and complex obstetrical emergencies. During the first year, the fellow will be part of the Stony Brook Hemorrhage and Accreta call pool and will be expected to scrub as first-assist or attending on cesarean hysterectomies to become expert and this procedure.
An online Masters of Public Health program at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will be included as part of this fellowship. This is an online course that includes basic competencies in public health such as program development, health policy, health economics, epidemiology, principles of disease control and a required research project. The research project may be substituted with a quality improvement project depending on the requirements of the specific public health degree concentration. The fellow’s research or quality improvement project will be designed during the first year and IRB approval (if applicable) will be sought during the first year.
During the second year of the fellowship, the candidate will spend 12 months on site at Maputo Central Hospital as a visiting faculty at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. During their time in Maputo, Mozambique, the fellow will have clinical teaching responsibilities. They will be required to take primary labor and delivery call, gynecologic emergency room call. They will be primarily engaged in education and quality improvement or research projects.
Fellows interact and operate with skilled mentors not just in minimally invasive surgery, but also gynecologic oncology and female pelvic floor surgery. A unique and valued component of the fellowship is the emphasis on gynecologic ultrasound for various gynecologic conditions. Ultrasound training includes traditional abdominal and vaginal modalities, as well as 3D reconstructions, saline sonohysterogram and sono hysterosalpingogram. The fellow is expected to become AIUM certified upon completion of the fellowship. The fellow will also become familiar in interpreting a pelvic MRI. Our fellows also function as junior faculty, taking on the role of gynecology attending for the house staff approximately 1 week every other month, supervising consults and any emergent cases from the Emergency Room that require surgery as well as taking a 12-hour OB-GYN call twice a month.
The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine recognizes the importance of research by our faculty members, residents and students. One of our core values, as part of the academic mission of the department is to establish an atmosphere of respect and excitement for research. Our commitment to multidisciplinary team-based women’s healthcare is a key component of our efforts to create and expand knowledge and improve the quality of our patients’ lives through excellent basic, translational, and clinical research. The Department’s mission to foster clinical investigation and translational research amongst the faculty is supported by an established and rapidly growing Division of Research.
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