Holiday Party!

Pictured: Patti Sasse (the bomb) and Dr. Molly Keegan (R2)


Pictured: Dr. Meiling Hua (R4), Dr. Jamie Donnelly (World's Best Pathologist) and Dr. Jen Parks (MFM Fellow)

The Holiday Party was held this past weekend at Dr. Macones' wonderful Lafayette Square Home. It was a great location and a fantastic turnout. Classical music filled the halls while an outdoor tent complete with heaters kept the outdoor partygoers warm.

Wash U: Work Hard. Play Hard.

Protocol Books

The new Protocol Books are here! For alumni interested in obtaining an OB Protocol book, please contact me via twitter. Donations accepted to create our resident workout room!

TS

iPad 2 coming...

A new class of interns brings a new chance at randomization. This afternoon, 9 new interns will be randomized the the iPad 2 or $500 in textbook allowance. We will continue to track their scores on periodic quizzes and annual exams.

Good luck!

WashUOBGYN representing at Wimbledon

R4 Kylie Smith recently returned from an incredible trip at Wimbledon. My favorite part of these pictures is the prominent display of the Wash U jacket. Go Kylie!

Green Day!

Every month, the WashUOBGYN Program tackles the Green Journal in a fun and interactive format titled "Green Day!". Yesterday the session was broken down into three parts. In the first, R4 Brooke Winner gave a beautiful presentation on Adnexal Masses. This was based on the Clinical Expert Series that the Journal publishes. She has set the bar very high and I look forward to seeing her co-residents match the effort. The second session was an update on the Antibiotic Prophylaxis on L&D Practice Bulletin. I presented this and highlighted the changes from previous recommendations. These include GBS prophylaxis as well as Infective Endocarditis.

Finally, we concluded with Hollywood Squares. 9 upper levels residents made the "board" and were presented with questions. The residents (of course) knew the answers but had the opportunity to deceive the R1 and R2 teams. It was up to the R1 and R2s to "agree" or "disagree". Correct answers gave them the spot, incorrect answers gave it to the other team. After no team was able to get Tic-Tac-Toe, the winner was determined by the number of spots occupied on the board. The winning team? R1s (though the R2s put a valiant effort). The winning team can now enjoy some coffee at St. Louis Bread Company courtesy of Patti Sasse.

To recap the game show formats that we have used in the past:

Jeopardy
Pro: Able to ask many questions
Con: Tough to work in teams

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Pro: More residents read (for fear of being "put on the spot") more than any other Green Day
Con: Only one sits in the chair and could be humiliated if ill prepared

Trivia Night:
Pro: Teamwork building
Con: Easy to devolve

Hollywood Squares
See above

It's just a matter of time before I perfect my Family Feud! Email me suggestions.

TS

New class orientation

Once again, the Wash U OB/GYN residency program held an ice breaker as its first lecture of the year. This year's theme was Mafia. FYI, the residents in the first picture are acting out part of the game. They don't actually fall asleep during lecture. I won't allow it!

TS

Final Week of ChiefDom

The Chief dinner was a hit and it was so nice to meet the friends and family that supported our residents these past 4 years. Special congratulations to our award winners!

Gladys Tse, Stu Massad - APGO teaching awards
Jacqueline Ogutha - Endoscopy award
Sahar Stephens - Laparascopy award
Jacqueline Ogutha - Resident Teaching award
Anna Graseck - CREOG award winner
Malika Anand - Rothman Research winner

Thank you to Dr. Stamilio for being the emcee of the night's events and thank you to the Chase Park Plaza for being great hosts.

But of course thanks to the chiefs for 4 wonderful years. You always have a home in St. Louis,

TS

Last day of School!

A big hearty congratulations to the chiefs for finishing 4 amazing years! I am sure they enjoyed the sensation of turning their pager in. Don't worry, you'll get a new one at your place of employment.

These chief residents leave behind some very big footprints but I am excited to see our junior residents step up.

Strong work,
TS

New Residents

This Sunday marks the official first day for the new residents but they are already getting acclimated to Wash U. We had a fantastic match and in case you were curious, here is they are:

Shuchi Desai - UT Southwestern Medical
Shelby Dickison - University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
Kate Squires - Wash U
Jourdie Stuart - Wash U
Janine Spain - Wash U
Lauren Theilen - UT @ San Antonio
Meghan Valentine - University of North Carolina
Juliana Vertichhio - Loyola University of Chicago
Amber Wood - Creighton University

We also welcome a new second year to our residency program, Maureen Bylina Schulte from the University of Illinois.

We are all very excited to have these bright and energetic new faces at our program. We are also especially delighted to have so many medical students from Wash U show interest - and ultimately match - at our program. I think that speaks to the quality of the teaching and the atmosphere that is created at our facility. But of course I'm biased!

TS

Where are the graduating chiefs going?

It's a small world and the OB/GYN community is an even smaller one. Our graduating chiefs are going to help fortify our network connections over a vast region and numerous specialities. If you wanted to know where our graduating chiefs are going, here you go!

Malika Anand - Urogyn, Mayo
Dan Czarnecki - Private practice, South Bend, Indiana
Jessica Kenerson - Private practice, Denver, Colorado
Karla Kossler - Private practice, Illinois
Colleen McNicholas - Family planning, Washington University in St. Louis
Jackie Ogutha - General, University of Wisconsin
Rupal Shroff - Minimally Invasive Fellowship, Indiana University
Sahar Stephens - Reproductive Endocrinology, Colorado
Molly Stout - Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

Their hard work and effort was much appreciated. We look forward to all of the great things that they are going to accomplish.

TS

Chief Graduation Dinner 2011

So much is happening these next few weeks. The current R4s have only one more week of residency! Unbelievable. Graduation is scheduled for June 18 at the lovely Chase Park Plaza. It was held there last year and everyone had a blast.

It's sad to say goodbye to such a phenomenal class but we also will be welcoming a new one at the same. This Sunday, June 12 sees our new interns coming to St. Louis for an afternoon at Dr. Peipert's house & pool. The following week is orientation for them followed by the new class hitting the wards. I remember what an overwhelming feeling that was. Trust me new interns - you will be fine!

TS

Kenan Omurtag and I have been working with Robert Cariste on an app for the Wash U OB Protocol book. Robert demonstrated the rough and it is fantastic! It will have all of our OB protocols and will include new ones that have been added over the past year. Twin-twin transfusion and Thyroid (by Lorie Harper, MFM Fellow) and Early Anatomy Scan (by Methodius Tuuli, soon to be faculty!) are just a few of the new additions.

The protocol book will work with both the iPhone and the iPad and will likely be available through the Apple App store.

We have added a "Quiz" feature to broaden the appeal to a wider a audience.

We are very excited about this project and look forward to unveiling it very soon.

Tony Shanks

Intern Superlatives

At our monthly Green Day (!) meeting, our new CARS - Kate O'Neill, Lindsay Reed and Brooke Winner - unveiled some new initiatives for the upcoming year. Highlights included restructuring the night float rotations as well as revamping the Holiday schedule. The new Holiday schedule will allow residents to have more autonomy in choosing their vacations and potentially allow them to have more during their 3rd and 4th years.

Of course, the pinnacle of the hour was awarding Intern Superlatives to the "Soon to be finished" R1 class.


Big shout out to all the interns! And a big shout out to the wonderful attendance!


Natalia will certainly head home and tweet/blog/facebook this before she even sits down to eat.


Exactly.


Hopeman, we don't want you to quit your day job. You can moonlight as a reader.



Shout out to JG!

Thanks to all the residents for their hardwork.

Sorry for not posting recently but that is because I have been hard at work. Do you hear me employer? Hard at work!

Tony

26th Annual Rothman Research Day

The 26th Annual Dr. David Rothman Resident Research Day was held last Friday and the residents had a spectacular showing. Many of these presentations will be heading your way in published form in a major journal. Until then, here is the agenda for the meeting.

TS

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Washington University School of Medicine
April 1, 2011
King Center
7th Floor Becker Medical Library
8:15 – 8:30 CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
8:30-8:45 KELLE H. MOLEY, M.D.
THE JAMES P. CRANE PROFESSOR AND VICE CHAIR OF BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH
PROFESSOR OF CELL BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP DIRECTOR
REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY AND INFERTILITY

INTRODUCTION AND RECOGNITION OF DR. ROTHMAN
Moderator: Patricia Jimenez, M.D.
FELLOW, DIVISION OF REPRODUCTIVE
ENDOCRINOLOGY AND INFERTILITY
8:45 – 9:00 Mallika Anand, M.D. - PGY IV

Co-Authors: Caihong Wang PhD, Jacob French, Megan Isaacson-Schmid, L. Lewis Wall, MD, PhD, MA, Indira Mysorekar PhD

TITLE: ESTROGEN AFFECTS THE GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN LAYER OF THE MURINE BLADDER
9:00 – 9:15 Daniel Czarnecki, M.D. – PGY IV

Co-Authors: Methodius G. Tuuli, MD, MPH; George A. Macones, M.D., M.S.C.E., Anthony O. Odibo M.D., M.S.C.E.

TITLE: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BIPARIETAL DIAMETER AT 18 – 21 WEEKS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR SECOND TRIMESTER SONOGRAPHIC DATING OF PREGNANCIES
9:15 – 9:30 Karla Kossler, M.D. - PGY IV

Co- Authors: Lindsay M. Kuroki, MD, Jenifer E. Allsworth, PhD, Gina M. Secura, PhD, MPH, Kimberly A. Roehl, MPH, and Jeffrey F. Peipert, MD, PhD

TITLE: PERCEIVED RACIAL, SOCIOECONOMIC AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND ITS IMPACT ON CONTRACEPTIVE CHOICE
9:30 – 9:45 Jessica Kenerson, M.D. -PGY IV

Co- Authors: Jenifer E. Allsworth, PhD; Gina Secura, PhD, MPH; Kimberly A. Roehl, MPH; Jeffrey F. Peipert, MD, PhD

TITLE: WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE OF VIOLENCE, CONTRACEPTIVE CHOICE AND CONDOM USE
9:45 – 10:00 Shayna Norman, M.D. - PGY III

Co-Authors: Anthony O. Odibo, MD, MSCE, Ryan Longman, MD, Kimberly A. Roehl,MPH, George A. Macones, MD, MSCE, Alison G. Cahill, MD, MSCI

TITLE: NEURAL TUBE DEFECTS AND ASSOCIATED GROWTH RESTRICTION


10:00-10:15 B. J. Rimel, M.D. – Oncology Fellow

Co-Authors: Aaron Ferda M.D., Jamie Erwin M.D., Summer B. Dewdney M.D.
Leigh Seamon D.O., MPH, Feng Gao PhD., Kristen K. Cotney, Warner Huh M.D.,
and L. Stewart Massad M.D.

TITLE: RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW OF CERVICOVAGINAL CYTOLOGY IN THE DETECTION OF RECURRENCE AFTER CERVICAL CANCER TREATMENT
10:15 – 10:30 BREAK
MODERATOR: KENAN OMURTAG, M.D.
FELLOW, DIVISION OF REPRODUCTIVE
ENDOCRINOLOGY AND INFERTILITY
10:30 – 10:45
Teri Benn, M.D. - PGY II

Co-Authors: Rebecca A. Brooks, MD, Qin Zhang, PhD, Matthew A. Powell, MD, Premal H. Thaker, MD, David G. Mutch, MD and Israel Zighelboim, MD

TITLE: PELVIC EXENTERATION IN GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY: A SINGLE INSTITUTION STUDY OVER 20 YEARS
10:45 – 11:00 Laura Meints, M.D. - PGY II

Co-Author: Anthony Odibo, MD, MSCE

TITLE: ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MAJOR STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES SEEN ON SECOND-TRIMESTER ULTRASOUND AND CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES
11:00 – 11:15 Lindsay Kuroki, M.D. - PGY II

Co-Authors:1 BJ Rimel, M.D.,1 Rebecca A Brooks, M.D.,1,2 Feng Gao, Ph.D,3 Premal H
Thaker, M.D., M.S., 1 Matthew A Powell, M.D.,1 David G Mutch , M.D.,1 Israel Zighelboim, M.D.1

TITLE: SECONDARY SURGICAL CYTOREDUCTION FOR RECURRENT ENDOMETRIAL CARCINOMA
11:15 – 11:30 Anna Graseck, M.D. – PGY I

Co-Authors: Gina M. Secura, PhD, MPH, Jenifer E. Allsworth, PhD, Tessa Madden, MD, MPH, Jeffrey F. Peipert, MD, PhD

TITLE: RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF HOME VERSUS CLINIC-BASED SCREENING FOR SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS IN LONG-ACTING REVERSIBLE CONTRACEPTIVE USERS

11:30 – 11:45 Clare Rudolph, M.D. - PGY I

Co-Authors: Nora T. Kizer, MD, Ling Chen, PhD, Matthew A. Powell, MD, David G. Mutch, MD, Janet S. Rader, MD , Premal H. Thaker, MD

TITLE: CHARACTERISTICS AND SURVIVAL OF GYNECOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES METASTATIC TO
THE BRAIN


11:45 – 12:00 BREAK/PICK UP LUNCH
12:00 to 1:00
GUEST SPEAKER

Sarah L. Berga, M.D.
James Robert McCord Professor
Emory University School of Medicine
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics

“POSTMENOPAUSAL HORMONE USE AND BRAIN HEALTH: ARE HORMONES NEUROPROTECTIVE?”

Match Day!

Today was a HUGE success for Wash U OB/GYN as we have filled our 9 spots with the country's best and brightest! We are absolutely thrilled to add such a wonderful class to our program.

In case you were curious (drumroll please)....

Shuchi Desai - UT Southwestern Medical Center
Shelby Dickison - Missouri
Kate Squires - Wash U
Jourdie Stuart - Wash U
Janine Spain - Wash U
Lauren Theilen - University of Texas
Meghan Valentine - UNC
Julian a Verticchio - Loyola
Amber Wood - Creighton

What should jump out is the number of medical students that have decided to stay here at Wash U. That says so much about our faculty and residents and their commitment to education both on the resident and medical student level. As Jay Z says, "You could have been anywhere in the world right now. But you're here with me. I appreciate that."

TS

The Merriam-Webster defines "Retreat" as a "period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study or instruction under a director." This Friday, we will put that definition to the test.

We have arranged for all resident services to be covered this Friday, March 4, so that all residents can attend what we hope will be an annual event. (Big shout out to Dr. Peipert!) The residents will convene in beautiful Forest Park and have breakfast AND lunch provided. The goal of the day is to identify things we do well and what we can do to improve as a whole.

As Residency Program (and Associate) Directors, we care about continually striving to be the best. The Retreat is an important part of this process. For our residents, it's just a great day to hang out together with no clinical responsibilities.

As for my Oscar Prediction:
Should Win: The Social Network
Will Win: The King's Speech
Won't Watch: The King's Speech

TS

CREOGS are now in the rearview mirror (thanks Pearl Jam) and we have started our most recent module - Primary Care. This module will cover lectures that are not already covered in OB, GYN, REI and ONC. We have lectures that will cover Genetics, Geriatric Screening and ED Assault to name a few. Our goal is to cover ALL of ACOGs requirements in two years so that all residents will have the opportunity to hear them twice.

New to this module is our Cultural Competency Training which will supplement our Ethics lectures. This 10 lecture series will be required of all residencies and we are fortunate to be one of the first.

TS

The Hub has arrived.

The iMac for the resident room is now up and running! We are importing our lectures onto the iMac and residents can now sync their iPads in order to get all of their lectures available at their fingertips. Patti Sasse - our wonderful resident coordinator - summed it up best, "Whoa."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2010 is in the books and 2011 is poised to be the best ever for the program. The iPad/Textbook randomization has dominated our thoughts recently. It sounds like most of the textbook group are taking advantage of the funds to purchase Prologs (good choice). The iPad group is using Safari and Goodreader to access study materials in a convenient portable format. I can't fault anyone for an occasional Angry Birds game though.

The iMac for the Resident Room will be here shortly. That computer will function as the "hub" for us to share lectures and files. I'm kicking around getting an Apple TV for the conference room so that we can share info from our devices. Stay tuned!

The New Year also provides us an opportunity to ensure we are properly balanced in our service:education ratio. As mentioned previously, Barnes-Jewish Hospital gave us a nice present with three Nurse Practitioners to help in this quest. Dr. Peipert and I will be working to discover the optimal way to utilize them. Suffice to say, the work load - especially on interns - will be much better.

Special shout out to the candidates that read/follow on Twitter and to the alumni as well! I ran into Jen Meyer at Mo Bap and it's just SO GREAT to see former residents so happy with their career! I plan on asking other alumni to come back and talk to the residents so please contact me if you are interested.

Tony Shanks