The OBGYN Clerkship Curriculum

The OBGYN clerkship curriculum at the University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) site and the Broadlawns Medical Center (BMC) site is equivalent (although not identical). Students at the BMC site have access to all online resources through Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and the OBGYN ICON course website.

During the OBGYN core clerkship, medical students are exposed to the specialty through inpatient and outpatient experiences, including (onsite at UIHC) a weekly continuity clinic with an assigned provider in the department.

Other non-clinical educational opportunities include sexual history communication session facilitated by faculty from the Department of OBGYN and Carver College of Medicine (CCOM) standardized patients as well as a student-designed OR crash course. 

Physician Assistant (PA) students also rotate in our department for a one-month exposure to women's health. PA students and medical students are assigned to outpatient clinics and work alongside residents, fellows, faculty, and other inter-professional preceptors.

Department of OBGYN faculty members facilitate small groups in the pre-clinical curriculum. They also give didactic lectures during the pre-clinical curriculum and the OBGYN core clerkship. 

In addition to participation in didactic and clinical teaching for the core OBGYN clerkship, the majority of faculty members in the Department of OBGYN serve as mentors for medical student research projects, quality improvement initiatives, and distinction track projects.

For the advanced (Phase III), OBGYN-interested medical students, the department offers sub-internships in Gynecologic Oncology and High-Risk Obstetrics (Maternal-Fetal Medicine). There are also advanced electives in Uro-Gynecology, Family Planning, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI), and Translational Science in Reproductive Health, among others. 

Clerkship Director: Michael Haugsdal, MD
Assistant Clerkship Director: Kimberly Kenne, MD