The goal of our program is to supply our residents with the tools, knowledge, and skills to provide competent, evidence-based care to people from all walks of life. This is made possible by building extensive experience in all aspects of Women’s Healthcare, including obstetrics, gynecology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility. We have over 50 full-time faculty including physicians, midwives and nurse practitioners representing all the subspecialties of obstetrics and gynecology under one roof in a newly constructed state-of-the-art hospital.
Our residents will be skilled in functioning in team-based care that promotes effective collaboration and communication with all levels of providers, fostering an environment that puts patient safety first. Our program is part of the Capital Health system whose strength lies in leadership development and community service. The residency experience will train leaders in the field who will go on to identify and improve health care disparities, system deficiencies, and public health concerns in their communities.
We will ensure a program that provides a supportive educational environment and broad clinical experience while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Completion of this residency will allow residents to seamlessly transition into whichever career path they choose.
Our residency is brand new and as such is expected by the ACGME to grow and mature naturally and in succession with each new PGY class. This means that our first class of PGY-1 Residents will be Capital Health’s only dedicated OB/GYN residents. This will provide them with a singularly special opportunity for extensive clinical exposure not typical for a Residency with a full complement. Our maturing resident classes will also play a special and integral role in the development of the overall residency program. They will be pioneers with us. Far from being alone, they will be integrated into Capital Health’s established and extensive history of nurturing other residencies in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Transitional Year.
PGY1: "Common and Uncomplicated”
The goal of the intern year is to introduce the basics. In obstetrics, residents will gain knowledge in the normal physiology of pregnancy and management of the normal labor process; perform uncomplicated vaginal deliveries and cesarean sections; ultrasound in low-risk patients; and triage routine complaints during pregnancy. In gynecology, the residents will expand their knowledge of the normal menstrual cycle, contraception counseling, and management of vaginitis; they will perform minor procedures such as LEEP, hysteroscopy and basic laparoscopy. The patients will mainly be uncomplicated OB patients, routine GYN, and family planning. During the second half of the year, the resident will be asked to identify a mentor and a research idea.
PGY2: “Common and Complicated”
The second year will be focused on learning how to manage abnormal presentation and more complex surgical cases. In obstetrics, the resident will learn the management of abnormal labor and medically complex pregnancies and perform cesarean sections. In gynecology, the resident will participate in more advanced laparoscopic and hysteroscopic cases, learn the principles of robotic surgery, and be exposed to gynecologic oncology, URPS and REI. During their ambulatory rotation time, the residents will begin to see more medically complicated patients, perimenopausal/post-menopausal patients, and complex OB patients. This year, the resident will work with their mentor to develop a research idea and perform a literature search. The idea, background information, and research design will be presented to the faculty toward the end of the year.
PGY3: “Uncommon and Complicated”
The PGY3 year is designed to present and develop an opportunity to display leadership skills. The resident will build on medical knowledge with regard to management of complex patients in obstetrics and gynecology. Surgical skills will be developed in advanced laparoscopy and robotic surgery. The resident will work on implementing and proceeding with their research idea.
PGY4: “Atypical and Complex”
The last year of residency will be focused on developing supervision and teaching skills of junior learners in addition to perfecting their ambulatory and procedural skills. Residents will act as chiefs for each of the rotations. In addition, they will participate in the more advanced surgical procedures in the subspecialty areas, such as REI and GYN Oncology. Residents will have the opportunity to submit their research projects to various publications or present at meetings to increase their academic scholarship. The finished product will be presented at our Capital Health Resident Presentation Program in the Spring.
Capital Health performs nearly 4,000 deliveries per year and over 1,000 major gynecological procedures a year. Residents will be exposed to a vast number of patients and pathology.
Our program will use a night float system that will cover the hospital during the week from Sunday to Thursday. Fridays (12 hours) and Saturdays (24 hours) will be covered by the on-call residents. Residents may be on-call 2-3 times per month.
Yes. Capital Health has fully established residencies in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Transitional Year.
With nearly 4,000 deliveries per year, residents are guaranteed to have a high-volume, high-risk experience. Our residents from the PGY1 year rotate with our maternal-fetal medicine physicians learning ultrasound, fetal assessment, and management of complex pregnancies.
We host 3rd-year medical students from the Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine as well as 4th-year sub-internship students from multiple programs. The residents also will have a chance to interact with advanced provider trainees, such as midwifery and nurse practitioner students.
The residents will cover cesarean sections. Capital Health averages about 1,200 deliveries per year by cesarean section. Operative deliveries will have a resident involved. We perform more than 150 operative deliveries a year.
Our program will have a unique continuity clinic rotation. It will be incorporated throughout each post-graduate year where residents will follow a panel of patients along with their classmates – very similar to how a practice functions. Currently, the ambulatory clinic where the residents will rotate is in downtown Trenton, NJ. Capital Health is a lead partner in the new Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center, which will be constructed in Trenton as well. This large, multi-disciplinary center will have comprehensive perinatal, infant/pediatric, family planning/medicine, lactation, doula and mental/behavioral health services. The Maternal and Infant Innovation Center is a collaborative project with the State of New Jersey, Capital Health, Rutgers University, Princeton University, The College of New Jersey and Thomas Edison State University.
Yes. We have created a project plan for residents to achieve the end result of a research project. Scholarly activity is an integral component of a teaching program; for both the residents as well as the faculty. In PGY1, a topic or idea will be identified by the end of the year. The resident will work with a research mentor and research committee to perform a literature search in the PGY2 year. In PGY3 and PGY4, the residents will implement and complete their research project and present their success at our annual Resident Research Presentation Day. In PGY4, the resident will have time to present their project at conferences and also submit publications for review.
For half a day per week, the residents will meet with the core faculty and guest lectures for didactic sessions. The session will be held in different formats, such as traditional lectures, small group sessions, flipped classrooms, and group simulations. Regularly scheduled education sessions will include rounds on obstetrics/labor and delivery and gynecology, pre-operative conference, tumor board, case review/discussions, grand rounds, and CREOG’s learning objective-based lectures. There will also be regularly scheduled simulation sessions as well as time and teaching devoted to wellness. Capital Health aims to create a culture of wellness by regularly assessing the wellness needs of its cohorts and prioritizing activities that optimize the mental, physical, and emotional health of our residents. We believe that an intentional focus on personal wellness is essential to our trainees’ future success. Our program is fully compliant with the ACGME duty hour regulations and committed to providing a quality educational experience that emphasizes time for adequate rest and out-of-hospital activities. While our program emphasizes academic and clinical training, there is an equal emphasis on well-being. Wellness days are integrated into the academic curriculum.
Yes. Journal Club meets every month remotely. It is regularly attended by medical students, residents and faculty alike and is designed to be enjoyable and interactive. It is designed to promote growth of knowledge and a scholarly review of the medical literature as well as to allow the residents to interact with the faculty on a personal level.