Curriculum

Teaching Conferences, Didactic Lectures, and Simulation

Tuesday mornings include four hours of protected academic time, starting with MFM/GYN education (depending what rotation you're on), followed by didactic lectures. These include a mix of simulation activities, problem-based learning, traditional lectures, and wellness activities. 

Wednesday mornings we have Grand Rounds: lectures on pertinent OBGYN topics, featuring speakers who are nationally or internationally known.

Other highlights include:

• Journal Club, which meets once a month to discuss articles pertinent to the specialty and to review research methods, including study design and statistical concepts

• In the second and third postgraduate years, a monthly meeting to facilitate the planning and execution of the required research project

• Additional teaching conferences and rounds held by each clinical division on a weekly or daily basis, depending on your rotations

• One-on-one obstetric simulation sessions, each year, with our maternal-fetal medicine faculty. These sessions take place in our state-of-the-art simulation center on our birthing simulators, life-sized, motorized manikins of a pregnant woman. The simulation scenarios allow residents to practice the management of normal labor, operative obstetric techniques, and rare, life-threatening complications, such as shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage.

• Access to practice surgical skills on state-of-the-art laparoscopic simulation equipment at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside, in structured sessions with gynecology faculty and independently. Through our laparoscopic simulation curriculum, we prepare you for the FLS/EMIGS certification.

Research

Throughout your residency, we encourage and support your participation in research studies. To further facilitate, we retain a full-time medical writer, statisticians, and an epidemiologist. In addition, we provide an annual seminar on research study design and statistics. In recent years, many residents have completed several projects, presenting results at national or local meetings, in peer-reviewed publications, at the hospital’s annual Research Fair, and at the department’s annual Research Day.

During the second and third years of the program, you must conduct a research project. To facilitate this, our research faculty members meet regularly with you to aid in the planning and execution of your study. The final presentation is delivered at our annual Resident and Fellow Research Day; you receive feedback on your project from a visiting professor of distinguished background. Research is evaluated by principles of study design and statistical analysis, practical development of research objectives and time allocation, and quality of public presentation.

Advising and Evaluations

As a class, you and your fellow residents will be assigned a set of advisors to continue with you through all four years of residency.  This advising system is designed to provide continuity of support and guidance. You, your class, and advisors meet regularly, away from the hospital and workday, to discuss your progress. Individual residents also find mentors with specific clinical or subspecialty interests, but the advising system is a constant, designed to build camaraderie within the class and guide you as you mature through the program.

We are committed to evaluating our residents on the six core competencies developed by the ACGME. After each rotation, the relevant division director and faculty complete milestone-based evaluations. To gain a better understanding of the whole picture of the resident, we perform 360-degree evaluations, soliciting feedback from nurses, ancillary staff, patients, and students. Residents also review the faculty, the rotations, and each other anonymously, via a web-based program. The program director and faculty advisors review evaluations twice annually. We take into consideration every resident’s strengths and specific career goals. Our goal is to make sure everyone graduates with a core of skills and knowledge, but beyond that, we aim to foster each individual’s interests and strengths.

Residents have a strong voice in the development of the residency program’s curriculum and structure. There are three chief residents each year: two administrative chiefs, who focus on scheduling and resident teams; and one education chief, who focuses on the didactic curriculum. The residency program holds quarterly meetings in which all residents participate; in these meetings, we reassess the curriculum and work to make positive changes. Beyond input into our program, there are many opportunities for residents to have a voice in their education and work experience: union representatives, patient safety committees, clinic task force, wellness committee, and graduate medical education committees. We take pride in our program’s inclusive, flexible atmosphere and work to make the residency experience a great one for every resident.

Upon graduation, residents are prepared to enter any subspecialty fellowship program in obstetrics and gynecology, or to begin practicing as general obstetrician-gynecologists. Each year, we have a mix of graduates entering fellowships, faculty, or private practice. To learn more, see the list of our graduates.