Third-Year Core Clerkship

The Third Year Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship is a six-week rotation that consists of four weeks of inpatient care and two weeks of outpatient care. Students’ inpatient assignments consist of obstetrics and gynecology at one of six area hospitals. The obstetrics portion may consist of normal labor and delivery, high-risk obstetrics (maternal-fetal medicine) or routine prenatal care. Gynecology may include benign gynecology and/or gynecologic oncology. During the outpatient weeks, students work one-on-one with a physician in the community at his or her private practice, or in a resident clinic at their hospital site. 

The clerkship learning objectives follow those developed by the Association of Professors in Obstetrics and Gynecology (APGO).  Faculty, fellows, and residents conduct weekly problem-based learning sessions in small groups.  The clerkship concludes with an Observed Structured Clinical Exam and the NBME subject exam.

For more information, visit the College of Medicine's Medical Student Education website.

Every student completes an anonymous review of the clerkship at the end of the six weeks. After a rigorous clinical and didactic experience, most students comment on the engaging and positive aspects of the program:

•  “I enjoyed learning about the field of obstetrics, which I feel that we did not get much exposure on in the first 2 years of medical school. I feel very informed on pregnancy and its complications which will help me in the future both personally and professionally.”
• “This was the first rotation and I now feel much more comfortable assuming and checking patients of my own, seeing patients in a triage situation, writing progress notes and H&Ps, and discussing patient care with a team. There are many more things to learn but I feel that I got a good broad understanding of medical care operations this rotation.”
• “Good exposure to the full range of Gyn procedures; really enjoyed the opportunity to see both UroGyn and GynOnc procedures.”
• “Excellent outpatient experience! (My physician) was enthusiastic about teaching and went out of his way to provide learning opportunities. I believe his ‘homework’ assignments to look up topics of interest was effective.”