OBGYN Tampa - Curriculum

Many residency programs are heavily skewed towards acute, hospital-based care, which leaves graduates unprepared to practice the full-breadth of obstetrics and gynecology. Our clinical curriculum is intentionally designed to address this type of residency-practice mismatch. We balance inpatient and outpatient exposures, general OBGYN and sub-specialty experiences, and high and low acuity patient types to ensure you’ll gain competency in the full breadth of the specialty. In the 4^th year, our chief residents spend six months in a longitudinal Women’s Health Capstone rotation. They are embedded into an existing practice and work as a junior partner, alternating between office, L&D and OR days. When you graduate from our residency, you’ll be ready to go down any professional path you choose.

Our didactic curriculum embraces the principles of modern adult learning. We utilize innovative educational tools like Socrative and Arist, to deliver self-paced pre-learning. Our didactic sessions are all faculty led, interactive and case based. Finally, we implement the proven concept of spaced repetition as the most effective means to achieve long-term retention. You’ll get a portion of learning every day and you’ll get updates on topics at least every two years.

Simulation-based skills training is a critical aspect of our curriculum from day one. We use the PRIMER (Procedural Repetition Involving Montessori-type Experience Rehearsal) method, developed by simulation expert Dr. Brian Brost. In your 4 years, you’ll begin with simple skills in your Orientation Boot Camp, and progress to the most complex skills as you complete the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery certification. You’ll progress from simple task trainers as a PGY-1 to leading complex, multi-disciplinary simulation scenarios as a PGY-4.

We threw out the old dysfunctional approach to research and created a completely new Team-Based Research paradigm. You’ll work in a team of four residents, with two faculty coaches. Together, you’ll learn, play application games and design and build great projects that match your shared goals and interests. You’ll earn points and prizes along the way. Best of all, you’ll finish residency with a firm understanding of the scholarly process and valuable work that will have immediate impact.

Our approach to encouraging a healthy lifestyle and promoting resilience is led at the GME Department level. We employ a full-time Director of Physician Wellness. This individual has developed and implemented a comprehensive program to promote wellness within all the Sponsoring Institution residency programs.

The goals of the wellness program are to promote a healthy and balanced lifestyle for residents and faculty while also giving attention to organizational and environmental factors that impact physician well-being. A robust wellness curriculum addresses the multi-factorial nature of resident well-being and includes interactive sessions on fatigue management and recognizing impairment, emotional intelligence, fitness and nutrition, professional development, work-life integration, and mental health risks. The curriculum is delivered through the required quarterly Wellness Series, during which residents engage in meaningful activities and discussion on well-being topics. Planned social events give residents, faculty, and their families the opportunity to form meaningful connections outside of the work environment.

The continuity clinic experience spans all 4 years of residency, culminating in a unique capstone experience in the PGY-4 year. The initial PGY-1,2 and 3 experiences are conducted at the AdventHealth Medical Group Obstetrics and Gynecology GME Clinic in the Medial Arts Center building. Each resident is assigned a half day clinic per week and the number of patients assigned per clinic session is dependent on PGY level. In total, residents engage in more than 120 continuity clinic session over the 4 years of the curriculum.

In the PGY-4 year, the continuity clinical experience transitions to the Women’s Health Capstone rotation, which utilizes a longitudinal curricular approach, combining ambulatory and inpatient experiences in private OBGYN offices, L&D and the OR. The core purpose of this rotation is to fully emulate the role of a primary physician of women. During this experience, residents provide comprehensive care spanning the spectrum of age and reproductive cycle. Additionally, the resident continues in the role of primary care physician as care transitions to the inpatient setting for obstetrical concerns or gynecologic surgery.

Our Simulation-Based Training curriculum is comprehensive and allows our residents to progress from novice to expert at their own pace. Simulation skill sessions are then held monthly and are class-specific. The PGY-1 year begins with an “Intern Boot Camp” that includes basic procedural skills learned on task trainers along with the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics Course. The PGY-2 and 3 years emphasize more advanced procedural skills and completion of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery course. Finally, the PGY-4 year introduces a Robotic Surgery focus option and management of emergency / critical care scenarios.

The Wellness Curriculum engages residents across all programs at program years. This curriculum spans issues of Wellness, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, Scholarship, and Teaching Skills. The sessions are held on a quarterly basis in the evening and include a time of fellowship over dinner. All sessions are highly interactive, incorporating games, role playing and discussions.

​​​​​​The Resident Team-Based Research (RTR) Curriculum is an innovative approach to facilitating resident and faculty involvement in scholarly activities. The mission of the RTR is to provide an educational experience for Obstetrics and Gynecology residents that immerses learners in a collaborative approach to scholarship within a support system consisting of engaged mentors and structured exposure to principles of research methodology and access to faculty expertise, which results in increased knowledge and application of evidence-based medicine and production of high-quality, meaningful scholarly research projects that contribute to general scientific knowledge.

Towards that end, the RTR is a 4-year longitudinal curriculum, that pairs a team of three residents, within the same PG year, with two faculty coaches. Teams meet on a monthly basis for 1 hour of protected educational time. The curriculum utilizes a combination of self-directed learning through online modules and in-person application exercises to affirm learning about research methodology. Specific project milestones are set guiding the team through Boyer’s 4 domains of scholarship: Discovery, Integration, Application, and Teaching.