About Our Program

The entire OB/GYN Residency group posing on a balcony at OHSU Hospital.

The department includes generalists, gynecologic oncologists, urogynecologists, reproductive endocrinologists, and maternal/fetal physicians.

OHSU nurse-midwives are available for referrals and work side-by-side with the residents in our clinics.

Residents also work with over 100 private practice physicians in the community who act as formal preceptors at the three other program sites.

See a complete listing of academic faculty by division

The balcony at OHSU's Center for Women's Health.

The primary training site is OHSU Hospital and the OHSU Center for Women's Health, known as “The Hill,” which includes Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and the Veteran’s Administration Hospital.

Dr. Amy Stenson oversees the activities of site directors at each of the four hospitals where residents rotate off the Hill. Each site director is responsible for day-to-day supervision and management of the individual resident rotations at the various teaching hospitals.

Dr. Gina Westhoff manages activities at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Dr. Brenda Kehoe oversees rotations at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Both hospitals are part of the Legacy Health Systems Community.

Dr. Elizabeth Melendez is the director at our affiliated program site, Kaiser Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Dr. Virginia Leslie manages activities at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center

  •  4 weeks of paid time off each year and 1 major holiday
  •  4 half days per academic year for healthcare, dental, or personal needs
  • Dental, Vision, and Health benefits available from day one
  • Financial support when presenting posters or abstracts at national meetings
  • Financial support to attend two conferences of resident’s choosing during two separate years of residency
  • 2 week elective rotation during 3nd year of residency.
  • Attendance to annual Pacific Northwest OBGYN Review
  • Ultrasound curriculum in R1 and R2 year
  • CREOG reviews
  • Weekly Grand Rounds Case Review and M&M
  • Specialty Journal Clubs
    • (FP, MIS, Gyn Onc, MFM, REI, Urogyn)
  • Research and Evidence based medicine curriculum
  • Didactics every Friday from 9-12 on variety of topics
  • Surgical skills and simulation every rotation
  • Rotation based curriculum
  • Improvement science curriculum w/ personal projects
  • Yearly stipend for educational supplies
  • Support from House Officers Union

Mission Statement

The mission of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at Oregon Health & Science University is to develop outstanding physicians with the knowledge and skills to build productive and fulfilling careers as clinicians, educators, researchers and advocates. We strive to provide this training in a diverse, inclusive, collegial educational environment where trainee well-being and professional development are among our utmost priorities and in alignment with the University's triple aims of healing, teaching and discovery.

Program Aims

  1. Broadly train OBGYN residents to enter comprehensive, full scope obstetrics and gynecology practices or to continue on to competitive fellowship training.
  2. Produce graduates who become leaders in OBGYN and advocates for patients and their communities.
  3. Prepare residents within an innovative curriculum that emphasizes surgical excellence, academic rigor, professionalism, continual quality improvement and self-care.

The obstetrics and gynecology training program at OHSU combines structured teaching environments such as skills labs, observed and debriefed patient encounters, and didactics and journal clubs with busy clinical and operative services to fulfill the educational objectives outlined by the Council of Residency Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG). Its outstanding faculty and superb clinical facilities provide a top-notch training program that prepares graduates to be competitive for fellowship positions or to be outstanding generalist OBGYN physicians. The key educational objectives include:

  1. Comprehensive exposure to the core curriculum in Obstetrics and Gynecology as outlined by CREOG.
  2. Education, assessment, and demonstration of competency in patient care, medical knowledge, communication skills, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice.
  3. Development of complete proficiency in office gynecology, evaluation and management of all general gyn problems, performance of office gyn procedures including colposcopy, endometrial evaluation, and limited gyn ultrasound, and ability to function as a consultant in gynecology.
  4. Mastery of low- and high-risk obstetrical management in the ambulatory and inpatient settings, including performance of limited obstetrical ultrasound and exposure to genetics.
  5. Technical proficiency in basic and complicated gynecologic operative procedures, pre- and post-op evaluation, and management of complications.
  6. Training in primary care, including the use of complementary and alternative medicine, in order to address the total healthcare needs of women.
  7. Training in menopause management and geriatrics, with an emphasis on the special needs of an increasing geriatric population.
  8. Proficiency in first and second trimester abortion, follow up care, and complications. See Abortion Policy.
  9. Exposure to reproductive endocrinologic, urogynecologic, and gynecologic oncologic evaluation, surgical care, and postoperative care, as well as medical management unique to these patient populations.
  10. Proficiency in the analysis and interpretation of medical literature and epidemiology, and the use of electronic media to gather current publications and research.
  11. Exposure to basic and clinical research in obstetrics and gynecology, including experience creating, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting original research in women’s health.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In addition to our hospital-wide diversity and inclusion efforts, our Obstetrics and Gynecology program is proud to host a Resident Diversity Committee which meets quarterly, a quarterly book club focused on works by marginalized authors, an anti-racism library, and department wide Health Advocacy, System Transformation, and Equity (HASTE) Committee, and more DEI efforts with many chances for resident involvement. Our committees have formed to identify opportunities at the trainee level to eliminate bias, develop policies for departmental research to serve anti-racist goals, and develop QI projects to evaluate for bias in our treatment of patients. Journal Clubs are held during Grand Rounds 2-4 times per year with articles selected to facilitate discussions on anti-racism.

See our DEI resources

OHSU's OB/GYN Residents at the "White Coats for Black Lives" protest in downtown Portland on June 3, 2020.
White Coats for Black Lives, 2020
OBGYN Resident Using VirtuOHSU

The focus of our Simulation Lab is to train learners in technical skills, invasive procedures, and clinical anatomy. OHSU's two simulation labs provide a range of capacities that supports training across the OB/GYN curriculum and advanced professional training.

OBGYN Resident Using sim lab

We are proud to offer our residents High Fidelity Obstetrics Simulations in a dedicated SIM lab. Every Fall our residents have a full day of OB Emergency Simulation. We also host monthly interdisciplinary emergency simulation on L&D.

Our simulation lab will prepare our residents with rotation based OB skills sessions including forcep and vacuum assist, C/S, manual rotation, breech delivery and more. 

OBGYN resident Sim Lab
  • Annual cadaver and porcine lab
  • Rotation based surgical skills session
  • Basics of suturing, knot tying, electrocautery, etc
  • Hysterectomy , D&C, hysteroscopy, circumcision
  • Laparoscopic trainer and curriculum
  • Testing tracks progression and identify issues
  • Open to residents at all hours, staff available to assist
  • Robotics training curriculum