Scope of Global Health Training Opportunities During Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Interest in global women's health is reported to be high among incoming obstetrics–gynecology residents. However, data regarding number and characteristics of programs offering formal training have not been collected systematically. METHODS: We administered a web-based survey to all program directors of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited obstetrics–gynecology residency programs and used frequency statistics, Fisher's exact, and χ2 for data analysis. RESULTS: One hundred five of 243 program directors completed the survey (response rate 43.2%). A total of 78.1% report at least one resident participating in a global women's health rotation during the last 5 years. A total of 34.3% offer formal didactics and 27.6% offer a formal rotation in global women's health. Of those programs offering a formal rotation, 44.8% offer predeparture training and 62.1% have formal competency-based objectives. Of all respondents, 43.8% report having at least one faculty member in their department for whom global women's health is a dedicated part of their practice. We identified a nonsignificant trend between having a dedicated global women's health faculty member and a program offering a formal global women's health rotation (relative risk 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97–3.7, P=.06) and a significant association between programs with dedicated global women's health faculty and offering formal global women's health didactics (relative risk 1.84, 95% CI 1.07–3.14, P=.03). The most commonly identified barriers to global women's health training include cost or lack of funding, time constraints for faculty and residents, and educational constraints by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee. CONCLUSION: Many obstetrics–gynecology residency programs have experience with a trainee participating in a global women's health rotation but do not offer either formal didactics or a formal rotation. Specific barriers are identified to developing more comprehensive global women's health programs.