Program Overview

Boston University Fellowship in Complex Family Planning: PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Boston Medical Center is the largest safety net hospital in New England with a central mission to provide consistently accessible and exceptional health services to all. With an emphasis on community-based care and a network of affiliated community health centers, Boston Medical Center provides a full spectrum of health care services, from primary to advanced specialty care.

Special Aspects of the Program at Boston University

  • Moderate abortion volume with high complexity
  • Participation in the NIH Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (IPPCR) course to learn how to effectively and safely conduct clinical research.
  • All fellow responsibilities occur on one campus (inpatient as well as outpatient), maximizing fellows’ availability for patient care, research, education, and mentorship.
  • Diverse patient population including community members, referral patients, international and refugee/immigrant patients. 
  • Comprehensive abortion care in both outpatient clinic and in operating room settings
    • Experience with abortion care under local, moderate sedation, and deep sedation ambulatory procedure space
    • Rare need to care for medically or surgically complex patients in main operating rooms 
    • Inductions of labor on labor and delivery with abortions for fetal or patient indications
  • Tremendous support for family planning from the hospital, department, colleagues, and staff
  • Opportunities for reproductive health advocacy at both the state and local level
  • Active research division
    • Member of the Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) and the Abortion Clinical Research Network 
    • Research staff that includes a research manager and a research coordinator as well as part-time research assistants
    • Opportunity to learn about research from various funding sources (federal, foundation, pharmaceutical
  • Diverse Faculty Interests and Experience: faculty work and lead in many aligned areas, including overlapping responsibilities in global health, MFM, addiction medicine, rural/traveling abortion care, racism in medicine, and shared decision-making. 
    • 5 FP fellowship-trained attending physicians in OB/GYN (inc faculty in Global Health and MFM)
    • 2 non-specialist physicians with second-trimester skills (OB/GYN and Family Medicine)
    • 3 nurse practitioners and 1 nurse midwife with specialty in family planning
        • No required OB call, moonlighting available
        • GYN Resident Service Coverage 4 weeks/year (opportunity to collect cases and operate)