Congratulations!

There were 9 prizes given out for the 2010-2011 ACOG Research and Fellowship Awards and Wash U had two of them!

David L. Eisenberg MD, MPH took home the the ACOG/Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Research Award in Long Term Contraception.

R2 Laura Meints, MD, MBA came away with the ACOG/Merck and Company Inc. Research Award on Adolescent Health Preventive Services.

Congratulations to both!

TS

Lou Fest 2010!

This summer marks the first ever Lou Fest!

I'm super-pumped for a couple of reasons. 1) It's being held in our backyard - Forest Park. 2) She & Him + Wilco Frontman Jeff Tweedy are the headliners! It's like someone stole my iPod and decided to make a concert out of it.

Tony Shanks

GYN Module Quiz

The GYN module quiz is coming up soon! It is tentatively scheduled for September 2 at 5PM though we may move it up a day to accomodate the research retreat. What are these things you ask? Allow me to explain...

We are very proud of the research opportunities that are available to all our residents. In order for them to take full advantage, it is imperative to have a good grasp of general concepts in research and statistics. So the R2s get a full day break from clinical responsibilities and have a "research retreat" hosted by Dr. Peipert at his beautiful home (complete with pool!). We've actually had a hard time in the past getting residents to leave Dr. Peipert's pool!

The module quizzes are our assessment of residents after our lecture blocks. For the uninitiated, we teach topics (OB, GYN, GYN-ONC, REI and Primary Care) in 3 month blocks and then use TurningPoint technology to assess the residents. Last year we had 4 module assessments and we learned that a resident's score was positively correlated to their performance on CREOGs (the annual inservice). For every 1% increase in overall module performance, their CREOGs increased by nearly 1% (submitted to APGO, natch ;). This allows us to identify residents that may need assistance BEFORE CREOGS and it also gives us some nice data to introduce a variable to see if we can improve performance. Something like, I don't know, iPads!

I will post the official date for the module quiz in the next 48 hours. Until then, enjoy the video lectures!

Tony Shanks

Advice for Residency Applicants

With interview season coming around the corner we thought it would be a good idea to solicit some advice from our interns. These talented individuals are the closest to the process and are in a great position to offer some pointers. First up is Natalia Grindler. She interviewed at at >20 obgyn residency programs (not normal, she knows) and she shares some advice on interview season:

-Try to respond to interview offers as soon as you can; dates fill up quickly and if you can't get the date you need, you might not be able to visit that program.
-Go to the resident social events if offered. These are the best places for figuring out whether residents are happy there and whether the program is a good fit for you- plus it's more free food!
-Try to be nice to everyone you meet on the interview trail. You never know where you will end up and who your co-workers will be.
-Keep in touch with the programs you are interested in.
-Enjoy your fourth year!

Thanks Natatlia!

Interview Days!

Can you believe it? Residency interviews are right around the corner and we are gearing up for another fantastic season. We are going to have 5 dates and - back by popular demand - the BUS TOURS are back!

The dates are:

November 8
November 22
December 10
December 13

The fifth date will be either Dececmber 3 or 20. I will have it finalized within the week.

Unfortunately, they won't let ME drive the bus but I do plan on being on it. So residents and alumni, save the date. Prospective candidates, get ready for some STL fun!

Tony Shanks

Resident Videos

We are very proud of our educational curriculum at WashUOBGYN. We are also fortunate to have so many willing faculty that can teach in their various areas of expertise. In case you are not aware, we have two-hours of protected teaching time on Thursday afternoons every week. We recognize that there are going to be times when residents cannot make the scheduled times (vacation, nights, etc). In those events, it's nice to know that we record these videos and make them accessible via the web. Above is just a sampling of what the residents get.

Tony Shanks

Nice work Anna!

There is a great showing this weekend at the Infectious Diseases Society of OB/GYN. Our Program Director Jeff Peipert is joined by one of our fantastic attendings - Jenifer Allsworth. Also in the group is one of our interns, Anna Graseck. I'll let one of her co-residents have the blog...

"Wishing the best of luck to R1 Anna Graseck who is presenting at this weekend's 37th Annual Meeting for the Infectious Diseases Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Only a few months into intern year and already presenting at a conference- that's the WashU OBGYN way! Congrats Anna!" - R1 Natalia Grindler

Proposal Title: Comparison of an Observational Cohort Study and a Randomized Trial of Home versus Clinic-based Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Users Anna S. Graseck, MD, Gina M. Secura, PhD, MPH, Jenifer E. Allsworth, PhD, Tessa Madden, MD, MPH, and Jeffrey F. Peipert, MD, PhD

Proposal Abstract:

Objective: To assess whether there are meaningful differences in the results of an observational cohort study (OBS) compared to a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of home versus clinic-based screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Methods: We compared two studies (OBS and RCT) performed in women enrolled in the Contraceptive Choice Project. The OBS study consisted of the first 462 women enrolled. Participants were offered a choice of home versus clinic-based testing at the 12-month time point. All testing and treatment were free to participants and their partners. Subjects in the clinic group could screen at a local family planning clinic or their regular provider. The RCT randomized a distinct sample of 565 women using long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) to home versus clinic-based testing. We analyzed the rates of screening (test received) by group using Poisson regression with robust error variance, and compared the OBS and RCT studies. Results: In the OBS study, women were more likely to choose to screen for STIs at home (76%) than at a clinic (16%) or with their own medical provider (8%, P<.001). Slightly more than half of the participants (57%) completed screening. Participants in the OBS study who chose home-based testing were more likely to complete a test compared with clinic-based testing (65% v. 23%, RR 2.8, 95% CI 1.9–4.0). In the RCT, the subjects in the home group were more likely submit a test than the clinic group, and the effect estimate was very similar (56% v. 22%, RR 2.5, 95% CI 2.0-3.2). Conclusion: In both the OBS and RCT, subjects were more likely to be tested for STIs with home-based, self-collected testing. This analysis demonstrates that the internal validity of an observational study can be quite high, even when compared to the gold-standard RCT. Mechanisms to facilitate home-based testing should be further explored.

Congratulations!

Our sincerest congratulations to Dr. Malika Anand who recently matched at Mayo for her Urogynecology Fellowship! This is a tremendous accomplishment and we are very proud of her.

Summer School

This year marks the first time that we are doing something called "Summer School". We got the idea from other residency programs and have adapted it for us. "Summer School" are sessions designed to teach us things - very early in the year - that we might not necessarily learn in didactic lectures. That doesn't mean that they aren't important. You could make the argument that these sessions are THE MOST important things we learn.

Our first session was titled LOST! and it it taught us to work in groups and figure out our strengths as both leaders and supporters.

Our next session is tomorrow. We will be learning about FEEDBACK and it's role in the workplace. I remember back to my nights rotation where once a week I would have feedback sessions with my junior residents. I find that both getting and giving feedback is essential to lifelong development as a physician. Tomorrow, Dr. Peipert will lead this discussion and I'm looking forward to it.

Our last session will be this month also. Dr. Thomas Defer is a very well respected Internal Medicine physician here at WashU and may be an even better appreciated public speaker. He will lead us in a discussion on TEACHING - specifically, how to teach medical students and junior residents.

While I have you, I might as well bring up the fact that our OB Thursday morning curriculum has been revamped this year as well! We will be highlighting General OB topics in a fun and interactive way. Today, Dr. Schreiber has just procured a state of the art model to teach fourth degree repairs. Trust me, you want to practice on the model before having to do it in real life!

Thanks for reading!
Tony Shanks