River Cornelius, MD (they/them), will join the UW Rural Family Medicine OB Fellowship in August, marking a key milestone in three years of planning with a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
This collaboration between the UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and UW Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers a 24-month fellowship providing essential surgical training and high-risk obstetrical experience for family physicians aiming to serve rural populations. Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, is co-lead of this fellowship program.
Fellows will spend about half their time at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital for high-volume, high-risk obstetrics training and two months per year at rural hospitals in Wisconsin. They will also maintain a family medicine practice and teach residents in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In Wisconsin, family physicians deliver babies in 66% of rural hospitals and perform c-sections in 34%. With the number of rural hospitals providing obstetric services having decreased by over half in the last 20 years, this fellowship aims to increase the number of family physicians offering full-scope and surgical obstetrics in rural Wisconsin.
Cornelius, coming from the Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency and Seattle Indian Health Board, has roots in Florida, Boston, Oneida-Wisconsin, and Seattle. They completed their undergraduate studies at Harvard University and graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine, where they completed the Indian Health Pathway. As a member of the Oneida Tribe, Turtle Clan, and identifying as Two-Spirit, Cornelius is passionate about Indigenous Health. They have integrated traditional indigenous medicines into their care of indigenous patients and participated in Land Rehabilitation and Reclamation for the Snoqualmie tribe. Cornelius’s medical interests include Reproductive Health and Obstetrics, Indigenous Health, 2SLGBTQ+ Health, and Addiction Medicine.
Please join us in congratulating Ryan Luellwitz, DO, of the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn! The UW School of Medicine and Public Health Clinician Teacher Track Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee endorsed the Department of Ob-Gyn’s recommendation that Luellwitz be promoted to the rank of Clinical Associate Professor, effective June 29, 2025.
After graduating from Michigan State University’s ob-gyn residency in June 2017, Luellwitz worked as an ob-gyn hospitalist for SSM Health/Dean Clinic and was awarded the St. Mary’s Hospital Adjunct Faculty Educator Award in both 2018 and 2021. He joined the UW Department of Ob-Gyn faculty in October 2021 as a clinical assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology. Currently, he is a co-facilitator for the Rural Family Medicine OB Fellowship. Since joining the Department of Ob-Gyn, Luellwitz has also been awarded the Kimberley J. Miller-Thoreson Compassionate Colleague Award (2023), the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (2024), and the Sabine Droste Award (2024).
Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, Dr. Luellwitz!
**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Paige Stevenson
Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, joined HealthCentral for a recent story about sexually transmitted infections.
In “Can You Get Herpes From a Toilet Seat?” Luellwitz and other health care experts from around the United States clear up some myths surrounding herpes. Luellwitz specifically talked about how the STI is transmitted, reducing risk for herpes, and good public restroom hygiene tips in general:
“Getting herpes is more likely when you have skin-to-skin contact with someone who has active herpes lesions or symptoms, says Dr. Luellwitz, but it’s still possible to get herpes from skin-to-skin contact with a partner who currently has no noticeable symptoms.”
Read the whole article here!
**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Paige Stevenson
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) recently awarded the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH) a Graduate Medical Education Residency GME Program Development Grant to support the Rural Family Medicine OB Fellowship. Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, will co-lead the fellowship!
The DHS GME Program Development Grants are intended to support current accredited GME programs in priority specialties in expanding their programs with the goal of increasing the number of physicians practicing in rural areas of Wisconsin. The Rural FMOB fellowship will provide much-needed surgical training and high-risk obstetrical experience for family physicians who plan to care for a rural population.
Learn more about the Rural FMOB fellowship!
There’s a lot to consider when choosing the right birth control - what will work with your lifestyle? What are your goals? Are there other health issues you should consider before starting a method? Where can you go to find the right birth control for you?
On the final Back to Basics episode of the Women’s Healthcast, guest experts Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, answer all our common birth control questions: what kinds of birth control are available, how they work, and how someone can figure out what might be a good method for them.
Listen to Back to Basics: Pregnancy Prevention now.
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
Sexually transmitted infections (or STIs) are incredibly common – over half of people in the U.S. will have an STI at some point in their life. Despite being so common, we still approach STIs with a lot of stigma and shame, and maybe even avoid talking about them at all!
On this Back to Basics episode of the Women’s Healthcast, guest experts Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, talk about safe sex, preventing or avoiding STIs, and how to find testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
Listen to Back to Basics: STIs and Safer Sex now!
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
Please help us welcome Ryan Luellwitz, DO, to the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn! Luellwitz comes to us from SSM Health, where his work with our UW Ob-Gyn residents earned him the St. Mary’s Adjunct Faculty Educator Award in 2021.
Luellwitz earned his DO from Midwestern University, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, followed by osteopathic internship and ob-gyn residency at Sparrow Hospital/Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan.
Welcome, Dr. Luellwitz!
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, rates of the sexually transmitted infection syphilis have been climbing across the country. In Wisconsin in particular, the state’s Department of Health Services recently recommended pregnant people be screened twice during pregnancy for syphilis, which can have significant affects on fetal health and development.
On this episode of the Women’s Healthcast, Ryan Luellwitz, DO, of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn talks about signs and symptoms of syphilis, the importance of frequent testing for STIs, and how to lower your risk for encountering syphilis.
Listen to “Know Your STIs: Syphilis” now.
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
The Women’s Healthcast, the UW Department of Ob-Gyn podcast, kicked off 2023 with a new series designed to answer some of the most common questions about sexual and reproductive health and provide resources for parents and supportive adults who may want to start having these conversations with the kids in their lives.
Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, are the guest experts in this series that brings us back to the basics of anatomy, gender, sexuality, the menstrual cycle, safe sex, sexually transmitted infections, birth control, bodily autonomy, and so much more.
On the first episode, they tackle the basics of anatomy and puberty: Why is it so important to learn and use correct anatomical terms when we are learning about bodies, development and sexual/reproductive health? When should children learn anatomically correct terms for body parts, and what are those parts? What is puberty, and when does it typically happen?
Listen to Back to Basics: Anatomy and Puberty now.
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
The Women’s Healthcast, the UW Department of Ob-Gyn podcast, kicked off 2023 with a new series designed to answer some of the most common questions about sexual and reproductive health and provide resources for parents and supportive adults who may want to start having these conversations with the kids in their lives.
Guest experts Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, bring us back to the basics of anatomy, gender, sexuality, the menstrual cycle, safe sex, sexually transmitted infections, birth control, bodily autonomy, and so much more.
In our second episode, Luellwitz and Cody answer some of our most common questions about periods and the menstrual cycle: what’s the average age when people might get their first period, why do we experience cramps, or acne, or emotional changes around our periods, and when to talk to a doctor if pain or heavy bleeding is disrupting your daily life.
Listen to Menstrual Cycle and Periods now!
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
Just about half the world’s population has had or will have a period at some point. But despite how common menstruation is, there can still be some confusion or even stigma around period products like pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and more. And that’s not even getting into the huge industry around so-called feminine hygiene products that can often do more harm than good.
On this bonus episode of the Women’s Healthcast Back to Basics series, Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, walk us through the period aisle, help us understand the differences between the products available, and offer some considerations that can help us figure out which products are the right choice for us. And while we’re in this aisle, we talk about the multi-billion-dollar feminine hygiene industry and why we can pass on all those products.
Listen to Back to Basics Bonus: Period Products now!
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
Our understanding of gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, and sexual orientation has expanded so much over time. On this Back to Basics episode of the Women’s Healthcast, guest experts Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, make sure we have a solid foundation to understand the nuances of biological sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and more.
They also offer resources for young people, parents, and other supportive adults to learn more about gender identity and expression, and answer questions shared by young people in Wisconsin.
Listen to “Back to Basics: Sex, Gender, Sexuality” now!
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
Understanding bodily autonomy and consent can be crucial tools for navigating healthy relationships of all kinds, including romantic relationships. But helping young people build a strong sense of self and understand boundaries and autonomy should start when kids are as young as possible, well before romantic relationships are on the horizon.
On this Back to Basics episode of the Women’s Healthcast, guest experts Ryan Luellwitz, DO, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, and Paula Cody, MD, MPH, associate professor in the UW SMPH Department of Pediatrics, define bodily autonomy, share some low-stakes examples of how young kids can understand and exercise their autonomy, and clear up some common questions about consent.
Listen to Back to Basics: Consent and Bodily Autonomy now.
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)