Curriculum and Schedules

1. OBSTETRICS (CORE)
The obstetric rotations are present throughout the four postgraduate years. Residents on this rotation provide care for the patients at Saint Peter's University Hospital’s L&D and acute and postpartum floors. There are more than 10,000 obstetrical visits per year in the OB clinics, with more than 1,500 new obstetrical patients. Saint Peter's University Hospital performs annually 6,000 deliveries per year, providing ample volume for this rotation of the How Lane Clinic provides greater than 1,500 of those 6000 deliveries for our residents per year.

The faculty from the General Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology participate in daily teaching rounds and regular conferences that address topics pertaining to normal obstetrics. In addition, obstetrical topics are addressed during the resident didactic sessions and grand rounds, which are held every Wednesday and Friday morning. The residents are supervised directly by the faculty with regard to all activities related to prenatal care, risk assessment, social work consultation, nutrition counseling, and intra- and postpartum management.

Ambulatory Rotation (Core)
Residents participate in a dedicated ambulatory rotation in the Pgy-1 year and again in the second half of the Pgy-3 year and first half of Pgy-4 year.  During this rotation residents see both OB and GYN patients, participate in colposcopy and all other aspects of ambulatory care as well as continued participation their required continuity clinic.

Gynecology (Core)
During the gynecology rotation, residents are exposed to approximately 1,400 major and another 2,500 minor gynecological surgeries that take place at Saint Peter's University Hospital each year. This rotation includes participation in surgical procedures in the CARES (Center for Ambulatory Resources) ambulatory surgical center immediately adjacent to Saint Peter's University Hospital. At CARES, approximately 1,300 minor gynecological procedures are performed each year, including hysteroscopy and laparoscopy.

Faculty perform daily teaching rounds with the residents. Topics related to gynecology are incorporated into the residents' daily conference, weekly didactic lecture series and grand rounds lecture series. Direct supervision of the residents is provided by faculty from the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology, and through the volunteer private faculty who operate at Saint Peter's University Hospital. Also included is the DaVinci Robot and resident are encouraged to participate and expand their core knowledge and skills with modern innovations.  ­­­

Night Float (Core)
There is a night float rotation in each of the four years. Night float runs from Sunday to Friday. The night float team covers labor and delivery, postoperative patients, and the emergency room. During this rotation residents learn to efficiently work collaborating with each other and expand clinically.

Medicine
This rotation is developed to acquire knowledge on inpatient general internal medicine and related subspecialties diseases. Residents take care of patients in the hospital and admit any patients for the faculty. This is a PGY-1 Rotation.

Pelvic Surgery
The Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery experience is under the guidance of Dr. Mokrzycki and Dr. Manish Gopal. Dr. Mokrzycki performs surgery related to pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Residents rotate through his office during the PGY-4 year. Aside from performing surgeries, residents also get extensive outpatient experience in evaluating and treating a wide variety of urogynecological disorders, and performing diagnostic tests such as urodynamics and cystoscopy. In addition, Dr. Gopal offer an enriched surgical experience in minimally invasive surgery. Residents on this Gyn rotation will scrub on cases with him and follow the patient’s post op course.

Maternal-Fetal Medicine (Core)
Saint Peter's University Hospital, which has been nationally recognized for its perinatal care services, became a designated Level IIII Perinatal Center in 1973 and the region's first state-designated Regional Perinatal Center in 1992. There are more than 500 low-birth-weight babies delivered at Saint Peter's University Hospital per year and more than 2,300 high-risk OB clinic visits per year. This large volume provides the backdrop for the residents' experience in high-risk obstetrics.

The Maternal-Fetal Medicine service consists of two PGY-2 rotations and 2 PGy-4 rotations. Faculty from the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine perform daily rounds with the two residents and run weekly Maternal Fetal Medicine conferences. Additional education in high-risk obstetrical topics occurs during the weekly resident didactic sessions and grand rounds lecture series. Supervision is provided by the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Resident exposure to reproductive endocrinology and infertility occurs during one-month rotations in PGY-3 with Reproductive Medical Associates of New Jersey, a large private-practice group with four offices. These rotations occur primarily in the Somerset office, which is within three miles of Saint Peter's University Hospital. R.M.A. New Jersey is a comprehensive subspecialty practice that consists of 11 fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialists. They care for approximately 10,000 women per year and perform approximately 2,000 IVF cycles per year. Laparoscopic and hysteroscopic procedures are performed at Saint Peter's University Hospital and at R.M.A. New Jersey's ambulatory surgery site.

In addition to gaining experience in operative procedures, residents obtain experience in diagnostic modalities such as ultrasonography, hysterosalpingography and sonohysterography. R.M.A. New Jersey is headed by Dr. Richard Scott, who has published more than 200 peer review articles in this field. His partners have another 100 peer review publications to their names. At the Somerset office, residents are under the direct supervision of Shefali Shastri, M.D., who acts as the resident rotation coordinator. The physicians specifically assigned to residency teaching include Michael Bohrer, M.D., John Frattartelli, and Doreen Hock, M.D. There is a weekly conference that includes case presentations, journal clubs, and topic discussions. Topics related to reproductive endocrinology and infertility are incorporated into the weekly didactic resident conferences and grand round lecture series.

Women's Health
One block rotations in ambulatory medicine occurs during PGY-2. This ambulatory takes place at an off-site location. Monmouth Medical Center is targeted specifically toward preventive and primary care of women. The residents will also learn tubal ligations at and address health issues such as sexually transmitted diseases and contraception.

10. Other Opportunities – (Sub rotations)

Obstetrical and GYN Ultrasound (OBGYN)
A specific ultrasound rotation of approximately one month. This rotation is run predominantly through the antenatal testing unit, where approximately 18,000 obstetric ultrasounds are performed annually. The testing unit houses nine ultrasound examination rooms and has state-of-the-art equipment including 4-D imaging capability. The antenatal testing unit is certified by the Association for Medical Ultrasound (A.I.U.M.)

Gynecologic ultrasounds and sonohysterography are also performed at this site. Additional ultrasound experience occurs on the labor and delivery floor, where ultrasounds are performed directly by residents under the supervision of faculty from Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the General Obstetrics and Gynecology Division. Topics related to ultrasonography are also incorporated into the residents' weekly didactic series and the grand rounds lecture series. Direct supervision of ultrasonography is performed by the faculty of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the General Obstetrics and Gynecology Division.

Genetic Disorders
Saint Peter's University Hospital is the home of the Institute for Genetic Medicine, which is under the direction of Debra Day-Salvatore, M.D., Ph.D. This institute is a collaborative effort among geneticists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists and neonatologists, providing diagnosis and intervention for a variety of genetic disorders and congenital defects. Designated by the state as a regional center for inherited metabolic disorders, the institute provides follow-up and therapeutic intervention for infants diagnosed with genetic disorders through the state's newborn screening program, which has resulted in improved neonatal outcomes.

Experience in genetic disorders is obtained by Obstetrics and Gynecology residents as they rotate in collaboration with the Institute of Medical Genetics during their maternal-fetal in PGY-2. Experience in genetics is also obtained through their rotation in obstetrics, which occurs each year. Further experience in genetic disorders is obtained during the rotations in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and gynecologic oncology.

Specific genetic disorders are discussed at the weekly ultrasound/genetic conference and through the tumor board conference in gynecologic oncology. Topics also related to genetic disorders are incorporated into the weekly resident didactic series and the grand rounds lecture series. Dr. Debra Day-Salvatore and her staff supplement the faculty from Maternal-Fetal Medicine in supervising residents as they deal with genetic disorders.

Didactics

• Grand Rounds: Fridays,  Attendance mandatory
• Resident Didactics: Fridays, Attendance mandatory
• Resident Didactics: Wednesdays, Attendance mandatory
• Perinatal Conference: Wednesday

Call Schedule
Due to the implementation of the night float system, residents participate in the on-call schedule on weekends only. The night float team provides hospital coverage Sunday to Thursday. Friday night and weekend on-call teams (one resident from each year) provide the necessary hospital coverage.

Mentoring Program
Each resident is assigned one faculty member who meets regularly with the resident to guide him/her as he/she progresses through the Saint Peter's University Hospital Residency Program. With the addition of a mentoring program, our residency program seeks to demonstrate the commitment of faculty to the personal and professional well-being of each individual resident. We anticipate improved communication between house staff and faculty, increased morale, individualized assistance, career development, personal growth, and a reduction in the personal stress of residency.