Mission

The mission of the NCC Fellowship Program in Gynecologic Oncology is to train highly skilled sub-specialists dedicated to the comprehensive surgical and oncologic care of women with gynecologic malignancies who are knowledgeable about the scientific techniques utilized in gynecologic cancer research, are compassionate, and will be passionate advocates for their patients.

Vision

Provide Gynecologic Oncology Fellows with unparalleled resources for research and exceptional clinical training with high surgical volume to ensure graduates are confident, capable, compassionate, and ready to become leaders in the Gynecologic Oncology specialty.

Expose trainees to a broad spectrum of research activities to include translational and clinical research projects to provide a solid foundation from which a trainee can build a research/academic career if desired.

Aims

• Ensure trainees are surgically and medically capable to confidently address any patient scenario in gynecologic oncology upon training completing through exposure to high surgical volume, surgical complexity, and a broad diversity of patient populations.
• Establish in trainees a mentality of leadership and dedication to integrity, professionalism, and life-long learning.
• Support an environment of mutual respect, collegiality, and a commitment to work-life balance and wellness.
• Cultivate a strong sense of advocacy, ownership, and responsibility in trainees towards patients with gynecologic cancer so that patient-centered care is always provided.

Every Monday morning from 7 - 8 a.m. all fellows participate on-site in gynecologic oncology tumor board. Dedicated 60 minutes of didactic teaching follows from 8 - 9 a.m. with a curriculum of lectures and speakers designed to cover primarily Gynecologic Oncology disease site surgery and chemotherapy topics, but also to include lectures on professionalism, statistics, palliative care, critical care, wellness, and others. There are quarterly journal clubs hosted by a faculty member. Once per year there is a cadaver lab at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

During the clinical years of fellowship, there are no elective rotations. There are off-service rotations/experiences with Palliative Care, Colorectal Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Urology, and Surgical Oncology during which the fellows spend weekdays on the assigned rotation but remain in the Gynecologic Oncology call pool.

During the research year, both active duty military and civilian fellows take one weekend call per month on the Gynecologic Oncology Service, while active duty military fellows also cover one call shift per month on labor and delivery unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

During the clinical years of fellowship both active duty military and civilian fellows can expect to cover pager call most weeknights when rotating at WRNMMC or Medstar Washington Hospital Center. When rotating at Inova Fairfax Hospital, fellows alternate weeknight pager call every other week with a co-fellow. Weekend call coverage is also home pager call and daily rounding and is rotated between all six fellows such that clinical fellows can typically expect two weekends off call per month.

Active duty military fellows continue to participate in the obstetrics call pool to provide coverage of labor and delivery with supervision of the OB/GYN residents in preparation for their post-fellowship duty station assignments.

Active duty military fellows are expected to maintain ATLS certification which helps to ensure their preparedness for deployment to the battlefield, if needed.

All fellows spend time on clinical rotations at WRNMMC where they learn to navigate the MHS GENESIS electronic health record and other aspects unique to care provided through the Military Health System. This ensures that active duty military fellows are well equipped to immediately provide care upon arrival to their first duty stations after graduation.

• American College of Surgeons (ACS) Quality Improvement Course: The Basics
• Stanford Medical Statistics Program (online)
• Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Fellowship Bootcamp

Fellows in their research year are assigned a ~50hr robotics simulation curriculum to prepare them for clinical rotations.

No specific leadership curriculum exists outside of usual fellowship didactics and leadership experience that is gained by participating in team-based care and national specialty organization committee memberships.

All fellows are required to complete 12 months of research and develop a research thesis that will be suitable for defense at both the conclusion of fellowship and when taking the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology oral Certifying Exam in Gynecologic Oncology. The research thesis project is not required to have been published, although the program aims to help every fellow achieve at least one publication. The fellowship program is equipped with facilities and staff to assist trainees in the pursuit and completion nearly every type of project listed on the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s list of acceptable research thesis projects.

Fellows are expected, like all members of the medical team, to be mindful of ways to improve on the delivery of health care as well as making it safer. Quality improvement initiatives are always supported, and first-year fellows complete the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Quality Improvement Course. 

Fellows have the option to participate in established faculty development curriculum offered through the USUHS/WRNMMC. Furthermore, they are encouraged and supported in pursuits of participation in national, district, and/or local committees and leadership positions within OB/GYN and Gynecologic Oncology professional societies.

• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ Gynecologic Cancer Center of Excellence at Inova’s Women’s Health Integrated Research Center, Falls Church, Virginia
• National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
• Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Virginia
• Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Washington D.C.

Medical students may rotate on the Gynecologic Oncology service as part of typical 3rd year OB/GYN clerkship rotations or upon request as a 4th year sub-internship two- or four-week rotation. These rotations are coordinated through the WRNMMC's department of OB/GYN.

Active-duty military applicants must apply through MODS after consulting with their service-specific specialty consultant. Civilian applicants can apply through the standard ERAS process and NRMP match program.

Fellows have the option to participate in established faculty development curriculum offered through the USUHS/WRNMMC. Furthermore, they are encouraged and supported in pursuits of participation in national, district, and/or local committees and leadership positions within OB/GYN and Gynecologic Oncology professional societies.

Fellows are expected to teach residents and medical students who are under their supervision across all rotations during training. On some rotations a senior clinical fellow is paired with a junior clinical fellow, and this allows the senior clinical fellow to provide some oversight and leadership to the junior fellow in preparation for future experiences as a staff physician supervising junior providers.

Fellows have opportunities to teach co-fellows, staff, and research faculty at various journal clubs throughout the duration of fellowship. Additionally, fellows often are invited to give grand rounds lectures for OB/GYN departments at the various rotation sites.

All faculty in the fellowship training program are subspecialty trained and either board certified or board eligible in Gynecologic Oncology.

With only six fellows in the program at any given time and interaction with over a dozen faculty, there is a greater than 2:1 faculty to fellow ratio which allows ample opportunity for mentorship. The program does not assign a specific mentor to each fellow, but instead prefers to allow each fellow to pursue mentorship form various faculty members at various times as deemed most appropriate for the situation.

The NCC Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Training Program is committed to trainee wellness. We have incorporated a wellness-themed event or activity into every month of the academic year. These wellness-themed events include off-site, after-hours journal clubs with dinner, formal lectures on wellness, a fellowship retreat with group activities and meals, and all hands attendance at the SGO Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer where trainees have three days together for restoration, networking, and relationship building.