[...]... an obstetrics and gynecology residency be a welldefined and supervised transitional year of primary care medicine and basic surgical learning The PGY-2 to PGY-4 years should be a 36-month experience to learn the presentation and management of the most common problems in obstetrics, gynecology, and gynecologic surgery This time should also involve rotations through the clinical subspecialties of obstetrics. .. the Advancement of Teaching New York: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Bull No 4, 1910 [2] Lynch F The specialty of gynecology and obstetrics JAMA 1924;83:397 – 9 [3] Speert H Obstetrics and gynecology in America: a history Chicago7 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 1980 [4] American Urogynecologic Society Using outcomes to evaluate surgical competency: a... understanding of the anatomy and pathophysiology of the diseased organ or disease process, (2) knowledge of alternative medical or surgical therapies, 242 julian & rogers (3) ability to explain risks and benefits of a procedure to patients, and (4) awareness of self-limitations as a practitioner and as a surgeon As is stated by the ethics committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [16]:... completion of residency requirements and final competency for each obstetrics and gynecology resident trainee rests with the individual program director The residency program director certifies that each graduating resident is sufficiently prepared and competent to pursue certification by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology training gynecologic surgeons 243 The Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics. .. the ‘‘structure -and- process’’ model to an ‘‘educational outcomes’’ model to determine the clinical competency of each resident [4] The structure-andprocess model trains residents based on the number and types of lectures offered, and the clinical volume and experience available These criteria are defined loosely and monitored by the Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Obstetrics and Gynecology, the... sets of skills with different instrumentation than traditional gynecologic surgery These procedures require development of expert hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills along with the challenge of operating in the confines of a two-dimensional monitor view of the three-dimensional surgical field of the female pelvis The financial support available for teaching in departments of obstetrics and gynecology. .. several changes within and outside of the specialty and training programs These factors are the decreasing volume and variety of teaching cases available to residents; the increasing numbers of new, minimally invasive procedures; the decreasing numbers of dedicated surgical instructors; and the instructor-based model of teaching surgery [10] The decreasing number and variety of gynecologic procedures... intraoperative performance, treatment of complications, and postoperative management The intangible qualities of ethics, professionalism, communication, and leadership should be integrated into training in a measurable way These qualities require further study and definition to develop curricula, teaching techniques, and methods of evaluation Patterns and habits of study and literature review must be taught... services, and performance of physical examinations Simulators and models are listed as most desirable tools for evaluating medical procedures An OSAT combines both evaluation of patient care topics and evaluation of medical procedures This article reviews the history of teaching technical skills, components of surgical skills assessment, definition of an OSAT, and suggestions for future development of surgical... procedures and patients that are available for training, and the important issues of how to maintain patient safety and the quality of care while attending to the needs of the learner Reznick [1], whose group has many publications on the subject of teaching and evaluating surgical skills, noted that the ‘‘Most important ingredient (of surgical teaching) is the appreciation of the importance of skill . specialty of gynecology and obstetrics. JAMA 1924;83:397–9. [3] Speert H. Obstetrics and gynecology in America: a history. Chicago7 The American College of Obstetricians. of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America arose out of a desire by the Education Committee of the American Uro- gynecology Society to improve