Residents in obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine train to become knowledgeable, skilled, and compassionate physicians through a well-balanced curriculum of clinical rotations, didactics, and research. Our goal is to prepare residents to excel in whatever career path they choose.

Program Details

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency is a four-year program. It includes a combination of high-volume clinical training in inpatient and outpatient settings, didactic experience, and research activity that is supervised and scheduled by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The residency is overseen by Sevan A. Vahanian, MD, program director.

Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency program aims include the following:

• train physicians to be excellent clinicians with the ability to continue learning and advancing so that they always remain outstanding practitioners
• provide residents with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are essential in becoming outstanding physicians in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology and ambulatory primary healthcare for women
• train residents to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the diagnosis and treatment of obstetric and gynecologic conditions
• train residents to demonstrate medical knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate sciences, and apply this knowledge to obstetric and gynecologic patient care
• teach residents to investigate, evaluate, and improve their patient care practices and appraise and assimilate scientific evidence
• guide residents in completing a research endeavor that contributes to practice-based learning and improvement
• ensure that residents have the interpersonal and communication skills they need to effectively exchange information and team with patients, their families, and professional associates
• instill a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adhering to ethical principles, and being sensitive to a diverse patient population
• train residents to have an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of healthcare and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value to the patient

Clinical Training

Residents receive broad clinical training in general obstetrics, gynecology, primary women’s healthcare, and various subspecialties. Our trainees are always under the supervision of faculty renowned for their clinical care expertise.

Our training sites include NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, as well as NYU Langone Women’s Wellness OB/GYN—Long Island and NYU Langone Long Island Women’s Health Associates.

High Reliability Organization

NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island is a high-reliability organization (HRO). High-reliability organization science is the study of organizations in industries that operate under hazardous conditions and where even a small error could prove catastrophic. Applying the lessons of HRO science at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island and in our clinical rotations enables us to reach levels of quality and safety comparable with the best of high-reliability organizations. In embracing the values and mechanisms of HROs, our aim is not simply to reduce errors but to eliminate them.

HRO fosters a culture that encourages teamwork, problem-solving, learning, and higher levels of performance. In healthcare, an HRO enhances the delivery of safe, high-quality care to patients and is also mindful of the need to ensure safety for all of its faculty and staff.

There are five principles of HROs:

• preoccupation with failure: proactively expecting and looking for problems
• reluctance to simplify: expecting complexity and doing deep dives on problems to get at true root causes and identify durable solutions
• sensitivity to operations: paying attention to what happens on the front lines, as what happens locally affects the institution and what happens at the institution affects the local environment
• commitment to resilience: developing capabilities to detect, contain, and bounce back from events that do occur; working to improve immediate problems while simultaneously working to create innovative larger improvements
• deference to expertise: valuing expertise over authority or hierarchy

Clinical Rotations by Postgraduate Year

Postgraduate Year 1	Postgraduate Year 2	Postgraduate Year 3	Postgraduate Year 4
Obstetrics	Obstetrics	Obstetrics	Obstetrics
Gynecology	Gynecology	Gynecology	Gynecology
Night Float	Night Float	Night Float	Night Float
Ultrasound	Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility	Maternal-Fetal Medicine	Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
Surgical Intensive Care Unit	Family Planning	Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery	Gynecologic Oncology
Labor & Delivery Triage	Gynecologic Oncology	Elective	Breast
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility	Ambulatory Gynecology		Career
	Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
	Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Our work schedule adheres to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and New York State duty-hour regulations. Night float coverage is from Sunday night through Friday morning, with weekend coverage provided by an on-call team of four residents. Two in-house attending physicians are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for direct supervision and consultation as needed.

For residents interested in applying to post-residency fellowships, our faculty is available to help prepare fellowship applications. Learn more about our Maternal–Fetal Medicine Fellowship, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship, and Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospitalist Fellowship.

Didactic Experience

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is committed to providing a rich scholastic environment for its residents and faculty. There are seven hours of protected didactic time each week where residents review a variety of obstetric and gynecologic topics. The didactic experience includes the following:

• weekly chapter reviews
• chair’s rounds and case presentations
• fetal heart rate tracing reviews
• journal club
• tumor board
• grand rounds
• ultrasound conference
• perinatal/neonatal conference
• clinical case presentation
• obstetric pathology conference
• obstetric high-risk drills
• simulation exercises
• subspecialty lecture series
• research meetings and biostatistics
• wellness curriculum
• narrative medicine

Research Activity

The department has a distinguished scholastic tradition, and many of our members are currently involved in innovative research, frequently publishing in peer-reviewed journals. We strive to enhance the educational experience of our residents by providing an active research environment, providing opportunities to participate in basic, clinical, and translational projects, as well as training in proper research methodology and biostatistics.

Residents are required to select a research project during their PGY-2 year, present their preliminary results in their PGY-3 year, and present their final projects at graduation. A faculty member in the relevant area is selected to assist and guide the resident along this process.

Throughout training, residents have access to NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island’s biostatistics department for assistance in such areas as study design, sample size, and interpretation of data. Residents are encouraged to present their research at a variety of local, regional, and national scientific meetings.

Recent Resident Research Activity

Examples of research led by our residents include the following:

• transvaginal ultrasound-guided placement of robotic assisted transabdominal cerclage in pregnancy
• broadening the differential: rare case of novel anti-MuSK positive myasthenia gravis diagnosis presenting with neuromuscular respiratory failure necessitating cesarean delivery in the late preterm period
• cancer genetics amongst ovarian and fallopian tube cancers
• gynecology consults and the effect of resident sign-out transitions on time to completion
• ovarian endometriomas and their association with stage of endometriosis and pelvic pain
• utilization of support services by gynecologic cancer survivors
• robotic assisted laparoscopic cervical recanalization via transverse hysterotomy for complete cervical stenosis
• robotic assisted laparoscopic wedge resection of cornual ectopic pregnancy
• head first: a simulation- and electronic medical record-based educational intervention to improve resident assessment of fetal occiput position in labor
• practice and perception amongst obstetrics and gynecology residents during the COVID-19 pandemic
• association between postoperative cervical length after cerclage and gestational age at delivery
• potential benefit of ICSI over IVF on pregnancy outcomes in non-male factor infertility cycles undergoing PGT-A

Wellness Program

We understand that residency is a challenging time and support several initiatives throughout our department and program. A resident Wellness Chair works with the program to plan retreats, events, and activities throughout the year. Our program has a “Monthly Morale” session built into protected didactic time for residents to get together to socialize, relax, and participate in various activities off-campus. There is a yearly retreat in the spring prior to start of the new academic year. We also participate in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Wellness Week activities.

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