Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency

Grand Rounds occur on a monthly basis on Thursday mornings and are host to a variety of speakers who are national, regional and local experts. In addition to the Grand Rounds, the residents get dedicated time with our guest speakers.

A designated resident presents a PowerPoint case presentation on a high-risk patient. This conference is attended by multi-division specialists to discuss the medical care, evidence-based practices and future opportunities.

Resident Obstetric and Gynecologic cases are presented in an Excel list format similar to the Oral Board format. This is attended by multi-division specialists and fellows in order to prepare the residents for certification by ABOG.

The Division of Academic Affairs sponsors a yearly resident research day. All residents present their research projects, and awards are given to outstanding projects.

This conference is given by the residents and attendings on an article selected by the attending staff. Residents and faculty scrutinize the article's arguments and evidence. The statistical analysis and methodology are reviewed, and a Bio-Statistician provides additional knowledge and background. This is one of our highlights in didactic curriculum.

Thursday mornings from 8:00am to 12:00pm are reserved for didactic activities. Our core curriculum follows the CREOG Educational Objectives. ACOG Practice Bulletins are reviewed every Wednesday after sign-out.

Quarterly with your research mentor.

A resident-driven journal club where the residents meet with the Program Director to discuss important recent journal articles.

Daily with the attending physician. ACOG Practice Bulletins are also reviewed weekly.

The residents meet with the Program Director and Chair on a monthly basis to discuss their experiences during the residency.

Once a month, with our Minimally Invasive Gynecologist, a state-of-the-art bio skills lab (the Gagnon Institute of Bioskills Training and Innovation) allows for simulations in laparoscopic surgical procedures, as well as team training for crisis situations. We have an FLS (Fundamental Laparoscopic Surgery) curriculum and trainers. The Bioskills lab is open 24/7, available to residents after hours as well. This Bioskills lab is a testing center, which allows residents to be familiar with testing conditions.

During Bioskills Lab the residents also practice on different models that simulate difficult scenarios, such as fourth degree perineal laceration repairs and safe hand morcellation of large pathology such as fibroid uterus.

The Director of Labor and Delivery and chief resident on Obstetrics conduct simulations of high-risk situations including breech deliveries, shoulder dystocia, postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal resuscitation, and eclamptic seizures. These drills allow for team training in crisis situations and improve patient safety.

Once a year, new interns complete a 1-hour training session with experts in the field to help assist new residents learn how to skillfully break bad news to their patients. This informative session is meant to improve the residents’ comfort in these difficult situations.

Morristown Medical Center offers a highly competitive FPMRS fellowship that is designated for one candidate per year. Residents who pursue fellowship have matched competitively across the nation.

Each week, the chief residents present interesting cases to the Chair and Program Director.

Once a month with Pathology/Gynecology/Oncology, this multidisciplinary conference is moderated by the gynecologic oncologists and includes representatives from the entire health care team. It focuses on a comprehensive management strategy for the gynecologic oncology patients.

Bedside work rounds on the inpatient units

Residents discuss each patient on their service, as well as the daily plan and progress. The team consists of first year residents and medical students who are supervised by senior/chief residents.

Board turnover rounds (sign out)

Residents and supervising attendings “hand-offs” are an important patient safety and communication tool between the day and night shift.  This time is utilized to discuss continuation of care on inpatients. This is the perfect opportunity to review findings, management and the plan for patient care. Labor and delivery management plans for each patient are also made and reviewed during the turnover of the Labor and Delivery board at 5:00pm.

GYN surgery

The surgery teams head to the operating room to introduce themselves to the patients prior to surgery. The cases are assigned the day before according to skill level and PGY year. This enables the residents to prepare for cases the night before. Obstetrics scheduled cases also start at 7:30am following sign-out.

General patient care/surgery

Residents utilize this time to update the patients’ treatment plans, and discuss treatments with their patients’ families, as well as to provide ongoing care. Surgical patients are admitted to the units from the recovery room or discharged to home for ambulatory cases.

On-call

The PGY1 through PGY3 residents are on call weeknights through a night float system. Weekend call responsibilities are shared amongst all residents with call schedule decreasing with seniority. Responsibilities include the management of labor and delivery, post-op, postpartum, oncology, gynecology and emergency department consults. Junior resident is responsible for postpartum and labor and delivery whereas senior resident will oversee junior and cover all remaining services.

All interns and second-years work approximately 30 weekend calls. Third-years work about 18 weekends and chiefs work 12 weekends.

Interns typically spend two five-week blocks on night float.

Night float covers the inpatient units from 7:00pm to 7:00am Sunday and 5:00pm to 7:00am Monday through Friday. The weekends (Friday night, Saturday and Sunday during the day) are covered by the residents per the above call schedule.

Interns are on-call for the weekend sign in at 5:00pm on Fridays for 14 hours, 7:00am on Saturdays for 24 hours, or Sunday at 7:00am for 12 hours. Typically, PGY-1 residents have one or two weekends off per month with our night float system.

Both senior residents and attending staff are in the hospital and available for supervision at both sites. Additionally, there is 24hr/day in-house hospitalist coverage for direct resident supervision seven (7) day per week.

We have five residents per year, for a total of 20 residents – a big enough team to handle challenges, but a small enough group to create more camaraderie and mutual support.

The hospital has multiple ancillary services that provide patient transportation, phlebotomy, and all other patient services. Our nursing staff is excellent, and the residents enjoy a good relationship with them.

All of the residents maintain a panel of patients in either Overlook Medical Center or Morristown Medical Center clinics. Every resident will have half a day of clinic per week. Continuity clinic includes high-risk obstetrics, moderate-risk obstetrics, low-risk obstetrics, routine gynecology, adolescent gynecology, and colposcopy. Our continuity clinic includes two ultrasound machines that include a vaginal and abdominal probe.

There is also an electronic fetal monitoring in-clinic that allows residents to triage an obstetric patient.

All residents are required by ACGME to do scholarly research, which includes clinical research and curriculum development. Atlantic Health is the primary academic and clinical affiliate in New Jersey of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, which enables our residents to collaborate with experts and residents at other facilities on cutting edge research projects. We have a research director and a biostatistician as well as the Atlantic Center for Research as valuable resources.

Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center was recently named a National Best Hospital for Gynecology by the US News and World Report and is renowned for its breadth of cardiac services, including bypass surgery, angioplasty, and implantable pacemakers. Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center performs the second most heart surgeries in the New York metropolitan area. Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center, the regional leader in comprehensive stroke care and neuroscience services, was the first hospital in the Northeast to use the revolutionary CyberKnife robotic image-guided technology. Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center is a community hospital which provides more routine quality care for a smaller pool of patients. Patients come from urban, suburban and rural areas, various socioeconomic backgrounds, and countries.