Curriculum

OB – Labor and Delivery / Postpartum

On the Labor and Delivery rotation, residents learn to manage normal labor and delivery, including spontaneous labor, labor induction and pain management. Residents learn to perform vaginal deliveries, operative deliveries and cesarean sections. They also refine their skills in laceration repairs after vaginal delivery. Residents learn to assess fetal well-being during labor and interpret and manage fetal heart tracings. In addition, residents oversee intrapartum management of high-risk patients with conditions such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, diabetes and HELLP syndrome. Residents learn to respond to obstetric intrapartum and postpartum emergencies, including but not limited to hypertensive emergency, seizure, hemorrhage and sepsis. Residents also provide comprehensive care for all the postpartum patients throughout their hospital stay.

OB – Antepartum

Teams of two residents (PGY2 and PGY4), under the close supervision of a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, provide coverage for the inpatient antepartum unit — often caring for 20-40 patients on the service. Residents learn inpatient management of complications of pregnancy, including preterm labor, preeclampsia, multifetal gestations, fetal anomalies, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and complex cardiac/metabolic conditions in pregnancy. This team also takes care of patients who have undergone fetal surgery. The resident team works closely with multiple consulted medical teams as indicated as well as with our critical care team to care for all patients admitted to our Women’s ICU.

OB Surgery

Our program emphasizes early and frequent involvement in procedures and surgery. On the OB Surgery rotation, residents will initially assist with — and then function as primary surgeons for — both scheduled and unscheduled/urgent or emergent cesarean sections. Because of our significant OB volume, there is a dedicated resident performing just cesarean deliveries and not managing labor patients. The OB Surgery resident is also responsible for presenting complex surgical patient cases at our monthly Placenta Accreta and Complex OB Surgery Conference. The PGY4 residents, when in the OB Surgery role, perform the most complex cesarean sections, including our placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) cases and cesarean hysterectomies as part of our renowned multidisciplinary PAS team.

Benign Gynecology

On this rotation, residents learn both medical and surgical management of benign gynecologic conditions. Residents manage patients undergoing outpatient surgery as well as manage the inpatient gynecology service. This rotation includes time in the operating room to develop surgical skills, with a gradual increase in the complexity of cases in which residents are involved from year to year. Residents operate with our academic generalist faculty as well as occasionally with private OB-GYNs from the community to maximize surgical experience. Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies is a leader in minimally invasive gynecology surgery. Our residents receive education on the various routes of gynecologic surgery (open, laparoscopic, robotic and vaginal). Residents typically graduate with a high number of cases logged (usually 70th-90th percentile compared to cases done by residents across the nation). This team of residents also provides inpatient consults to other teams at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center and Orlando Health Children’s Arnold Palmer Hospital.

High-Risk Obstetric Clinic

Residents on this service participate in providing outpatient prenatal care to women with high-risk conditions under the supervision of our maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) faculty, striving to provide optimal care to both mother and baby. Due to the complexity of our patient population, our High-Risk OB Clinic works closely with our Orlando Health Women’s Institute Fetal Care Center, genetics department and cardiac-obstetrics program — all overseen by our MFM group.

Gynecologic Oncology

This rotation focuses on gynecologic cancers. Residents participate both in the outpatient and inpatient care of these complex patients, from initial evaluation in the office, to surgical management, postoperative care and inpatient management of medical and surgical complications. Residents also participate in a multidisciplinary tumor board and learn about all aspects of treatment of gynecologic cancer, including chemotherapy and radiation. Although this is one of the more demanding rotations due to complexity of the cases, it is also one of the most rewarding and educational for residents as they are involved in complex medical cases and surgeries under the guidance of gynecologic oncology attending physicians.

Triage

This rotation involves time in our dedicated 20-bed Triage/Women’s Emergency Department. Residents, along with nurse practitioners and attending physicians, evaluate and treat every patient that walks in through the doors of Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. This involves management of early pregnancy issues (ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, hyperemesis) to full-term labor checks. Residents will experience a multitude of clinical scenarios in this unit, ranging from simple, routine pregnancy concerns to emergent, life-threatening conditions. Residents also learn to perform bedside ultrasounds while on this rotation. Residents develop clinical skills, efficiency and time management, honing their assessment and decision-making skills in rapidly changing clinical scenarios.

Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility

This rotation educates residents on the causes and treatment options for infertility. Abdominal and vaginal ultrasound are key in this subspecialty and as such, residents enhance their sonography skills on this rotation. In addition, they learn about endocrinologic disorders that affect female patients. This rotation includes time in clinic, performing procedures and participating in surgery.

Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)

This rotation focuses on developing and refining surgical skills for laparoscopic and robotic gynecologic surgery. Residents spend some time in the office with MIS faculty, and the majority of time is spent in the operating room where they learn and develop proficiency in surgical techniques. Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies has one of the highest rates in the U.S. (greater than 80%) for hysterectomy performed by minimally invasive surgical techniques and is a robotic surgery epicenter of excellence in gynecologic surgery.

Elective

This block is designed to allow residents to explore aspects of OB-GYN for which they have a passion. Residents can do away-rotations at other institutions (possibly to explore as a site for fellowship), or they can do an internal or local elective to get early exposure to subspecialties. Finally, this time can also be used to work on scholarly activity/research projects.

Community

Residents are exposed to other medical specialties and groups that work within our hospital, such as neonatology, nursing, lactation consulting and social work. This allows the residents to develop a more well-rounded understanding of the total care our patients and their families require throughout their pregnancy, delivery, surgery or hospital admission.

Clinic/Ultrasound

This block allows for more ambulatory exposure to general obstetrics and gynecology. Residents rotate through clinics with community generalist OB-GYNs and subspecialists in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Residents also spend time with our skilled ultrasonographers in both OB and gynecology settings.

Simulation

The Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital OB-GYN Residency Program maintains a formal, well-established collaboration with the Center for Medical Simulation and Innovative Education at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, supporting a comprehensive and academically rigorous simulation curriculum. Beginning in their earliest weeks of training, residents participate in more than 20 structured simulation experiences, including task trainer modules, interpersonal communication simulations and multidisciplinary immersive scenarios designed to reflect the complexity of contemporary obstetric and gynecologic practice.

Engagement in this curriculum also facilitates early scholarly productivity, with trainees frequently completing their first poster presentations, manuscripts, regional presentations and peer reviewed video publications through program-supported educational research. Through this longitudinal, evidence-informed approach, residents cultivate advanced procedural competence and relational proficiency, reinforcing the principles of safety, trust and respect that are fundamental to high-quality OB-GYN care.