Academic Overview

One of the foremost missions of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) division is the education of future physicians. Specifically, the goal of our division is to promote a broad understanding of the unique physiology of pregnancy, as well as the pathologies associated with pregnancy.

Medical Student Training

Third-year medical students spend a core clerkship rotation on the obstetrics service. During this clerkship, they have daily interactions with the perinatologist during morning teaching rounds, in the operating room and throughout the day in caring for patients.

Third-year students may also participate in a specialized MFM rotation in which they participate in the care of the inpatient antepartum patient service. Finally, a lecture series is especially designed for the academic level of the medical students to facilitate their learning of obstetrics.

Resident Training

Residents in Obstetrics and Gynecology participate in the care of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine patients each year of their residency.

During their first year, residents rotate through the Hoxworth perinatal ultrasound unit where they are taught how to interpret and perform obstetrical ultrasound. In addition, they participate in morning educational rounds.

During the second year, residents rotate being charged with the direct supervision of the Maternal-Fetal medicine service. This entails running a service that cares for an average of six to 14 patients at any given time. They, too, participate in morning educational rounds.

During their third year, residents care for perinatal patients who are acutely ill and admitted to the labor and delivery unit.

Finally, during their chief year residents rotating on Obstetrics not only are responsible for the most complicated antenatal admissions to the hospital but also rotate through the high-risk Maternal-Fetal Medicine office practices where they care for complicated pregnancies ranging from complex fetal anomalies to the most challenging of diabetic patients.

In addition to these clinical experiences, a regimented didactic series is designed to further the education of the Obstetrics and Gynecology residents. This includes twice weekly meetings where basic topic overview, morbidity and mortality and journal club review are designed to optimize resident education.

Finally, residents are required to complete one research project during their residency training. Many residents opt to perform these studies under the direct supervision and guidance of the maternal fetal medicine faculty.

In addition to the Obstetrics and Gynecology residents, members of the division also play a role in the education of residents of other fields. Specifically, they work with the emergency medicine residents in triage of labor and delivery establishing a foundation of obstetrical knowledge to facilitate their future care of these patients.

Radiology residents rotate through the Hoxworth perinatal ultrasound unit to further their understanding of obstetrical imaging.

Fellowship Training

The Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has provided advanced training in Maternal-Fetal Medicine to qualified physicians for more than two decades. An outstanding basic research faculty complements an excellent clinical faculty, and together they provide a superb environment in which to train. Every effort is made to balance the training in all aspects of high-risk obstetrics.

Learn more about our fellowship program.