GYNECOLOGY 

Each resident spends four blocks--approximately six months--each year on the obstetric/gynecology service, making up a total of four teams, with a member from each class on all four teams. The daily schedule is based on a “q4” call rotation. Each weekday, one team is in the clinic, one is in the operating room, one is on-call, and one is post-call. During each day of the rotation, the residents on the team participate in activities that are most appropriate for their level of training. Starting in the first year, residents act as the primary surgeon for procedures of increasing complexity, from laparoscopic tubal fulgurations for the first years to vaginal hysterectomies and repair of pelvic organ prolapse for the third years. Residents also become proficient at vaginal ultrasonography early in their training. Third year residents augment their operative experience with rotations at Norris Cancer Center and University Hospital. Overall, over 4,000 major and 2,000 minor gynecologic surgeries are available to residents each year.  Furthermore, each case that goes to the operating room at LAC+USC Medical Center has been thoroughly prepared for surgery by the residents themselves, from the initial new patient visit through preoperative consultation. With assistance from faculty and the more senior housestaff on the team, the residents learn how to perform a thorough preoperative evaluation, to counsel patients on treatment options, both medical and surgical, and to develop an operative plan that is most appropriate for each patient. The gynecology rotation also provides residents with valuable interaction with senior faculty members, in both the operating room and the clinic. After four years of training, graduating residents are competent to independently manage benign gynecologic conditions both medically and surgically.