UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

Medical students will rotate through BC Women’s Hospital in the context of a 6-week core OB/GYN rotation in the third year of their 4-year program. Students with a keen interest in OB may return to do an elective rotation in their final year. They are primarily there for their own learning, and will always ask permission before involving themselves in a woman’s care. Their roles might include taking a history, performing certain parts of the physical examination, attending normal births and assisting in the OR.

Women can decline medical student involvement, or set limits to their participation. We are immensely grateful to those women who accept the opportunity to help shape our next generation of physicians.

Postgraduate Program

Residents are doctors who are pursuing further training in the specialty of their choosing. The OB/GYN program is 5 years after medical school. OB residents rotate through BC Women’s Hospital at various times throughout their residency, and emerge as skilled obstetricians.

In addition to attending to their own learning, the OB residents play a critical role on the OB team at BC Women’s. Duties are delegated to them, commensurate with their level of experience. They assess women in the Urgent Care Centre, and help manage their labours once admitted. The more senior OB residents will also provide in-labour consultations for patients of family doctors and midwives. Under the direct supervision of the attending OB, they also perform procedures associated with vaginal deliveries and C-sections.

The OB residents are our partners when we are on-call and they are critical to the smooth operation of our labour and delivery unit.