Women’s Health Track

This track is designed to prepare residents to be a future leaders in clinical and/or academic women’s health. Our goals are to enable residents to:

1. Understand and manage medical conditions unique to women and medical conditions with sex specific differences.
2. Acquire competency and expertise in women’s health beyond that of a general internist.
3. Participate in scholarly work including research projects and curriculum development related to women’s health.
4. Develop a mentoring relationship with a women’s health expert.

• News & Events

  Faculty member Dr. Xiaolei Chen co-authored and published an article about preconception counseling and treating non-obstetric medical issues in pregnant patients. She was also an expert guest on the IM podcast Curbsiders. Article Podcast

  ACP Internist published an article on Long Acting Reversible Contraception and interviewed faculty members Dr. Meghan Geary, Dr. Vidya Gopinath and Dr. Mindy SobotaLink

  Faculty members Dr. Meghan Geary, Dr. Vidya Gopinath and Dr. Mindy Sobota presented a workshop on providing medication abortions in primary care at the National Society for General Internal Medicine conference in Orlando, FL in May 2022

  Faculty members Dr. Meghan Geary, Dr. Vidya Gopinath, Dr. Kelly McGarry and Dr. Mindy Sobota co-authored and published an article on contraception in the Brown IM resident clinic after implementing a program to provide Long Acting Reversible Contraception to its patients. Link

• The Environment

  Center of Excellence: Researchers, clinicians, and educators at Brown University have been leaders in women's health for many years. In recognition of this, Brown University / Women and Infants' Hospital was designated as one of the 19 National Centers of Excellence (COE) in Women's Health. Although the national centers no longer formally exist, the goals of the COE continue today. They are to:

  • Develop an integrated model for the delivery of clinical health care services to women with an emphasis on prevention and early detection of diseases and conditions.
  • Develop a multidisciplinary research agenda focused on women's health issues.
  • Enhance women's health education at all levels of medical education and to the community.
  • Foster recruitment and promotion of women in academic medical centers.
  • Provide community outreach programs.

  
  

  It is through this lens that the Women’s Health Track was created and continues to develop.

  Resources in Research: Women's health focused research occurs at Brown University and its affiliated hospitals and centers, including Rhode Island Hospital, the Miriam Hospital, Women and Infants' Hospital, and the Rhode Island Women's Correctional Facility. The research represents a broad range of investigation including women in prison, menopause, the disproportionate effects of alcohol on women, breast cancer, obesity, depression, HIV, osteoporosis, genitourinary malignancies and pregnancy-related issues. Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, Rhode Island was a vanguard site for the Women's Health Initiative, the largest longitudinal trial of postmenopausal women ever conducted. WHI studies are ongoing.

  Clinical Resources: In addition to strong research, the hospitals and faculty offer outstanding clinical services to women. There are multiple women-specific internal medicine practice sites, including: 1) an academic women's health practice based out of Rhode Island Hospital providing primary care to women at two sites in East Providence and East Greensich, 2) an academic practice in consultative and general internal medicine based out of Women and Infants' Hospital, 3) a primary care site at the women's prison, and 4) an academic practice in obstretic medicine based out of Women and Infants' Hospital.

  In addition to these internal medicine sites, there are many additional clinical opportunities in breast health, gynecology, reproductive endocrinology, urogynecology, and psychiatric services for women. There is an obstetric medicine fellowship at Women and Infants' Hospital and a popular month-long rotation for residents in obstetric medicine. Residents in the women's health track will have an opportunity to work in any of these sites.

  The internal medicine residency's largest site for resident ambulatory care, the Center for Primary Care, has a procedure clinic staffed by faculty leaders in the Women's Health Track. Women's Health Track residents preferentially rotate through procedure clinic to gain competency in procedures such as insertion and removal of IUDs and contraceptive implants (e.g. Nexplanon).

  Advocacy: Residents have the opportunity to be involved in advocacy if they choose. The 2018-2019 RI legislative session heard numerous women’s health related bills. In June 2019, the Reproductive Privacy Act which preserves the current legislative status of abortion passed. Women’s health track faculty members frequently went to the state house and were leaders in mobilizing physician advocacy efforts. This session also established the Maternal Mortality Review Commission at the Department of Health to study maternal health outcomes and racial disparities.

• How would my curriculum differ from other General Internal Medicine Residents?

  The Women's Health Track will differ from the traditional General Internal Medicine (GIM) Residency program by the addition of 5 key components to further excellence in women's health: Mentorship, Research, Clinical Experience, Clinical Competence, and Didactics/Education. The majority of the women's health training will take place during ambulatory block.
  

  • Mentorship
    A faculty mentor will be assigned to each resident at the beginning of his/her PGY-1 year. Mentors will provide assistance with choosing women's health clinical sites, preparing for didactic sessions, selecting a research project, and identifying each resident's present and future goals with respect to a career in internal medicine and women's health. Residents will meet with their mentor each ambulatory block month throughout residency.

  • Research
    Beginning early in their PGY1 year, residents esidents will meet with their mentor to discuss their research interests and identify potential research mentor. Once a research mentor is identified, residents will work with them to discuss, outline, and plan their research project. Research can be conducted throughout the PGY-2 and PGY-3 year, and residents may have up to 2 months in their PGY-3 year dedicated to research. Residents will submit their research to be presented at a national meeting.

  • Clinical Experience
    Residents will begin their outpatient experience in a women's health clinical site in their PGY-1 year. During their 3 ambulatory block months of internship, they will see patients at a women's health site for at least one half-day session/week. At the end of internship, residents will choose a women's health site as their "2nd site" continuity clinic and will attend that clinic one half-day session/week throughout their PGY-2 and PGY-3 years. During PGY-2 and PGY-3 ambulatory block months, residents will see patients at an additional women's health clinical site of their choice for at least one half-day session/week. A list of the specific clinical sites, including women's health GI, the post-partum depression day program, pelvic PT, and others is given to residents so they can tailor their clinical sessions to their interests. Residents will also complete the women's health elective experience or obstetric medicine elective during either PGY-2 or PGY-3 year.

    Through procedure clinic at the resident continuity clinic as well as clinical sessions at the gynecology clinic at the Women and Infants' Hospital or Planned Parenthood, track residents can gain experience and competency in IUD and subdermal implant insertions/removals as well as more experience with pelvic and breast exams.

  • Clinical Competence
    Through clinical experiences, residents should gain experience in the diagnosis and management of the following conditions affecting women:
    • Coronary disease
    • Rheumatologic diseases
    • Endocrinologic diseases
    • Vaginitis/Cervicitis/STDs
    • Contraception/Family Planning
    • Osteoporosis
    • Menopause
    • Intimate Partner Violence
    • Chronic Pelvic/ Abdominal Pain
    • Abnormal Uterine Bleeding/Amenorrhea
    • Physical exam skills: including breast and pelvic exam
    • Procedural skills: Advanced contraceptive procedures (IUD, subdermal implants)
    
    

    Women’s Health Curricular resources are shared amongst the faculty and residents on the pathway. A core curriculum of articles is available online through the residency Canvas course page. During ambulatory block months, track residents will select articles to review during that month and discuss with a WH faculty member. The curriculum serves as a reference and should aid in achieving a level of competence in the area of women's health. Midway through PGY-2 year, residents will have a clinical competence review with their mentors and identify areas in which resident wish to have more guidance and/or exposure. This will guide the selection of articles to be reviewed during ambulatory block or the track elective as well as clinical experiences. A second review will take place during ambulatory block of the PGY-3 year.

  • Didactics/Education
    In their PGY-3 year, residents will lead 2 didactic sessions on a topic in women's health of their choice. These hour-long sessions can be with the PGY1 GIM residents, all residents on ambulatory block, or at a noon conference depending on the preference of the resident and the type of didactic session. Each session is given twice with WH faculty members present to review and offer feedback. Additionally, faculty at The Warren Alpert Medical School offer formal feedback on observed teaching skills.

  • Additional Elective Experiences
    Residents will be able to participate in local and national meetings related to women's health as the opportunities arise. Residents may gain additional experience in the area of public health, health care policy issues and administrative expertise and fostering leadership for women in medicine. To this end, they may choose to work with the Associate Dean for Women in Medicine, the RI Department of Public Health, Office of Women's Health and the Brown University School of Public Health.

• How do I apply to the Women's Health Track?

  The track is open to two residents each year. Typically the residents are from the GIM program and the track curriculum is designed to fit into the GIM curricular schedule. Interested categorical residents are encouraged to apply and they work with the track director to create their schedule to accommodate the additional opportunities in the Women's Health Track. Applicants select the track soon after matching in the Brown GIM or categorical programs. Applicants may specify the desire to participate in the track when applying to the residency program as well.

• Who runs the Women's Health Track?

  Vidya Gopinath, MD
  Director, Women's Health Track
  Assistant Professor of Medicine
  Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Email: Email

  Iris Tong, MD
  Clinical Director:
  Associate Professor of Medicine (Clinical)
  Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Email: Email

  Mindy Sobota, MD
  Procedural Director:
  Assistant Professor of Medicine
  Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Email: Email

  Meghan Geary, MD
  Care of Vulnerable Populations Director
  Assistant Professor of Medicine
  Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Email: Email

  Additional Faculty:
  Michelle Anvar, MD
  Kimberly Babb, MD
  Christine Duffy, MD
  Laura Edmonds, MD
  Jennifer Jeremiah, MD
  Kelly McGarry, MD

• Women's Health Track Research & Residency Presentation

  2014

  Rachel Casas, MD
  “Contraceptive Use in Women Having Bariatric Surgery”

  2015

  Mariah Stump, MD
  “Integrating Integrative Medicine into residency curricula: We CAM do it!”
  Manasa Ayyala, MD
  "Do internal medicine trainees ask female patients about the presence of fecal incontinence and if so, what factors influence them to do?"

  2016

  Karen Kimel-Scott, MD
  "Polyarthritis and Eosinophilia: Can you spot the rare vasculitis?"
  Margaret McNamara, MD
  "Recurrent pneumonia in a woman with severe tracheobronchomalacia"

  2017

  Christiana Zhang, MD
  "Internists underperform in provision of first line contraception"
  Meghan Geary, MD
  "The internist and the uterus: the case for medication abortion in general internal medicine"

  2018

  Vidya Gopinath, MD
  "A review of the contraceptive choices of patients in an urban, resident continuity clinic"

  2019

  Yetunde Asiedu, MD
  "Evaluation of training in women's health in the Brown Internal Medicine program"

  2020

  Yael Tarshish, MD Co-Authored Women's Health Chapter of Cecil Essentials of Medicine, 10e

  2022

  Amelia Tajik, MD
  "A Case of Extensive Venous Thromboembolism after initiation of Combined Oral Contraceptives for Treatment of Menorrhagia in a patient with Undiagnosed May Thurner Syndrome"
  Resiency presentations on Abnormal Uterine Bleeding and Menopause
  Leanne Duge, MD
  Residency presentations on Breast Cancer Screening and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome