Women’s Health Track

• The Women’s Health Track (WH track)–the first of its kind—was established in 1994 by Dr. Melissa McNeil for residents with a strong interest in developing expertise in health issues that are unique to women, are more common in women, and present differently in women.

Components of training in this program include the following:

Comprehensive Internal Medicine: First and foremost, residents in this track are trained as internal medicine physicians and spend the same amount of time on wards and in intensive care units as other residents in the categorical residency program. Our residents also have ample opportunity to rotate through subspecialty electives during their 3 years of training.

Focus on Women’s Health: WH track residents will practice their outpatient clinical duties in one of two specialized comprehensive women’s health centers, and will be precepted by faculty specifically trained in women’s health. Residents will also rotate through specialized 4-week WH electives including Magee-Women’s Hospital Emergency Department, Adolescent Medicine, and 3 dedicated WH ambulatory rotations with access to multiple subspecialty clinics. There is a core WH didactic curriculum for all interns and an additional advanced women’s health didactic curriculum for all WH track residents. The Section of Women’s Health also hosts a lunch lecture conference series once a week that provides a collaborative learning opportunity between internal medicine, OBGYN, and the Center for Innovative Research on Gender Health Equity (CONVERGE). 

Routine Breast and Gynecologic Care: Residents develop expertise in breast exams, pelvic exams, cervical cancer screening, family planning, preconception counseling, post-partum care, management of menstrual dysfunction, vaginitis, menopause, interpersonal violence, and sexual trauma. Residents will also be exposed to a variety of procedures including endometrial biopsy, colposcopy, nexplanon, and IUD insertion.

Preventive Counseling: This training prepares residents to counsel patients about current issues in women’s health, such as mammography screening, hormone therapy, and other preventive health needs.

Focus on Mental Health: Residents are trained to diagnose and manage mental health conditions common to women and to understand the relationship of these conditions to medical illness and the hormonal state. Topics such as depression, anxiety disorders, somatization, substance use, and post-partum depression are included.

Gender Affirming Care: Our faculty proudly care for a gender-diverse patient population. Residents will learn how to manage gender-affirming medications and provide comprehensive medical, preventive, reproductive, and affirming care for these patients. 

Exceptional Mentorship: Residents are paired with a dedicated women’s health faculty advisor upon entering internship. In addition to their MD training, all women’s health faculty have received a graduate degree (Master’s in Medical Education, Master’s in Clinical Research, or Master’s in Public Health), and have specific training in all aspects of clinical women’s health. This is a close community of faculty; all residents benefit both from their personal and professional relationship with their direct mentor, and the mentorship provided by the group, which occurs formally and informally throughout the 3 years of residency.

Our graduates have excelled in general and subspecialty careers alike. Residents completing the WH track have joined practices to provide gender-specific care, matched into women’s health/general internal medicine fellowships, and have defined women’s health niches for themselves in every major medicine subspecialty, including cardiology, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, nephrology, endocrinology, rheumatology, and pulmonary/critical care medicine.

The Department of Medicine offers several positions in the Women’s Health Track each year. For additional information about this track, please contact Dr. Sarah Tilstra. For more information about general application procedures, visit our How to Apply page. For a printable pdf overview of the Women’s Health Track, please click here.

Women’s Health Track