Fellowship for Academic Generalists in Obstetrics and Gynecology: Is It Overdue?

Academic specialists in general obstetrics and gynecology are clinicians practicing the full breadth of the specialty while also contributing to medical education and scientific discovery. Residency programs in obstetrics and gynecology provide exposure to research training that is variable but frequently limited. This creates challenges for junior faculty and in many cases limits their research productivity, typically measured by published original research articles and grant funding. This frequently disadvantages academic specialists in promotion compared with their subspecialty fellowship-trained colleagues. A few research fellowship programs were recently launched to address this issue. However, these programs are not uniform and encounter challenges such as sustainable funding. In this article, building on knowledge from current academic specialist fellowship programs, we discuss the needs, challenges, and proposed solutions. We also propose some details needing further discussion among the academic obstetrics and gynecology community. We discuss how such fellowships can integrate with current development and training opportunities such as the Women's Reproductive Health Research award, Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health award, other K and K-type career development programs, NIH T32 grants, and clinical research courses for obstetricians and gynecologists. Academic specialist fellowship programs can have synergy with other women's health fellowship programs offered by other specialties. They can additionally leverage institutional resources. We conclude by summarizing a proposed model for academic specialist research fellowship programs.
Competing Interests: Financial Disclosure Andrea K. Knittel's institution received funding form the NIH, Doris Duke Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services NIMHD, and the FORE Foundation. She serves as a DEI Task Force Member, SASGOG Board Member, and she serves on the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health. She is also ACOG's liaison to the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Jeffrey F. Peipert's institution received support from Bayer, Merck, and CooperSurgical. The other authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)