The 28th Annual Dr. David Rothman Resident Research Day was held today and the results were outstanding. Below is a list of the presenters this year along with the title of their research projects. Meghan Valentine R2, "SurgiQuest versus Traditional Insufflation: A Retrospective Cohort Study" Lindsay Kuroki R4, "Disclosing a Diagnosis of Cancer: Considerations Specific to Gynecologic Oncology Patients" Jessica Rosenstock R4, "Moving Towards Personalized Care for Endometrial Cancer: Does minimally invasive surgery facilitate selective use of lymph node dissection" Amanda Spitalnik R4, "Placental Pathology, First-Trimester Biomarkers and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes" Matthew Weis R4, "Natural History of Placenta Previa in Twins" Natalia Grindler R3, "Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Lead to Earlier Age of Menopause: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the US Population-based NHANES Database" Callie O'Neil R3, "Two-Year Continuation of Reversible Contraception: A Comparison of LARC versus non-LARC methods" Maureen Schulte R3, "Inhibitory Effect of Glucosamine on Endometrial Stromal Cell Decidualization In Vitro: Janine Spain R2, "Normal First Stage of Preterm Labor" Juliana Verticchio R2, "The Effects of Degree of Obesity on Risk for Post-caesarean Wound Complications" Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Mooore for being our guest speaker and presenting the "Use and Abuse of the Amniotic Fluid Index". Great job everyone! TS

Match Day 2013!

Two days left before Match Day 2013! We were so impressed by the candidates that came through this year and wish all of them the best - though we will be partial to the 9 that we are lucky enough to get. There are great things on the horizon in the new year: Surgical training, Robotics, iPads! Good luck to all.

Happy New Year!

and Happy Halfway point of the Resident Year. Those 6 months went by pretty quickly. Interns are now savvy residents knowing exactly which fridges house the best ice cream treats. (Hint: APU.) We had a great group of candidates this past interview season and match day is right around the corner. We've had some fun on match day with our special suitcase and Pi pizza and we hope to have something even better planned this year. Special shoutout to Kenan Omurtag (REI) who is assisting me with creating an ACOG Course in Medical Apps for the Annual Meeting in May. That should be a lot of fun (though New Orleans may not be ready for KO). A new year's resolution will be to make better use of the blog. We hope to have residents have their voices heard as well as post recent articles that they publish. Any comments are welcome. Thanks! TS

Summer School for new Residents

It's always exciting when a new class starts. Everyone moves up a year and responsibilities and expectations change. That makes this time of renewal a good chance to revisit some important topics. The new Chief Administrative Residents (Sammy Schon, April Parker and Lindsay Kuroki) started us off with a bang with a wonderful orientation session. First, we watched the famous Seattle Fish video. For the uninitiated, this is a video that focuses on the fishmongers at the famous Seattle Fish Market. They do hard hard labor but still manage to enjoy their work. That enjoyment is contagious! In the video they lay down some of these pearls - have fun, be there, create your climate. These lessons are so important to our own residency work environment. We create the climate and if today is any indication, that climate is fun! Next, the CARs led a game of charades. The residents were divided into groups and the first member had to place their hand into a bag. They would feel an item and then whisper a description of that item to the next person. The third person would then need to silently act it out in order to get the remaining members of the team to guess it. Highlights including a description of forceps, a speculum and Baby Tuuli. It was a great session and really starts us off on the right foot. For the upcoming year, we will continue with the module-based lectures (GYN from July-Aug) but we will be incorporating more surgical skills with Dr. Biest on Thursday. Next Wednesday we'll be covering important issues like Professionalism, Handoffs and Feedback. I'll be better about trying to post weekly in order to keep this info out there. I appreciate your feedback. Thanks Tony Shanks

Congratulations to our Class of 2012! We bid a fond farewell to our wonderful chief residents this past Saturday. The ceremony was held at Union Station in downtown STL and was well attended by both residents and faculty. We've bounced around to many different venues but this was one of the best. Drs. Meiling Hua, Kylie Smith, Ali Venturella, Anya Rabinov, Elena Rhoads, Kate O'Neill, Brooke Winner, Lindsay Reed and Shayna Norman all received their residency diplomas. Dr. Hua will be pursuing an MFM fellowship at Jefferson in Philly. Dr. O'Neil will be joining her in Philly where she will be going into REI. Shayna Norman (MFM) and Brooke Winner (MIS) will both be staying at Wash U. Kylie Smith joins a prestigious private practice group in Seattle, Washington. Ali Venturella will be doing the same in Sweet Home Alabama. Anya and Elena will be returning to California with Elena joining a great group just outside of Anaheim. Their efforts to stick together and complete a difficult residency are noted and praised. I wish them all luck and look forward to seeing the great things that will be coming from them. Sincerely, Tony Shanks

MIS

Another educational/fun outing with the MIS group. I see that Pi pizza was the meal of choice!

Minimally Invasive Interest Group

Brooke Winner, one of our amazing Chief Administrative Residents, has started a Minimally Invasive Interest Group. The group plans to meet every block (approximately every 6 weeks)to practice with simulation trainer boxes, discuss articles, and talk about MIS fellowship for those who are interested.

It's a great way to learn about an exciting field while socializing with peers outside of the hospital.

Dr. Peipert liked it so much that he is sponsoring the food!

TS

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