The fourth-year medical school curriculum: Recommendations of the association of professors of gynecology and obstetrics and the council on resident education in obstetrics and gynecology

OBJECTIVES: The Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology have proposed a fourth-year medical school curriculum for a student interested in pursuing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. STUDY DESIGN: Faculty members and residents in North Carolina, Illinois, and Michigan were surveyed as to the ideal curriculum that they would recommend for fourth-year students. The committee members representing the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics then reviewed these surveys and proposed a final curriculum. RESULTS: A core curriculum of general medicine as an acting internship, an intensive care unit rotation, neonatology, and emergency medicine was recommended. Additional courses strongly considered were ambulatory obstetrics-gynecololgy, acting internship in obstetrics-gynecology, endocrinology, and general surgery. CONCLUSION: The committee recommends a curriculum that is broad and balanced in general medical education.