Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship FAQs

The educational goals of our program are well balanced and designed to meet fellows’ needs, and are individualized as such. Aside from a balanced split between the OR, inpatient service, and chemo clinic, we have protected educational time weekly for faculty-led didactics and tumor board (TB). Our TB is conducted in a way that helps us prepare for oral boards and a career as a Gynecologic Oncologist in a collegial format. We also participate in high yield off-service rotations, including palliative care and radiation oncology.  

Every faculty member is dedicated to mentorship, teaching, and supporting the fellows. This atmosphere provides opportunities for informal mentorship relationships to form naturally. Research mentorship is provided through the development of a thesis project during research year and through any other research projects that fellows are interested in pursuing. The program director is also always available as a mentor and advocate.  

We train at UW Health University Hospital, where the division of Gynecologic Oncology is based. There are occasional cases at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital that fellows attend. These cases are most often cesarean hysterectomies, both planned and unplanned, and occur about once every one to two months. The UW OB and Gynecology departments are based at Meriter Hospital. St. Mary’s Hospital is an outreach site for the UW Gyn Onc division as well as a training site for UW residents.  

The two clinical fellows alternate weekly between two roles: the OR fellow and the service fellow. The OR fellow is in the OR daily and has first choice of cases. The service fellow is in charge of the inpatient service, attends a half day of chemo clinic twice per week, and attends OR cases when available.  

The service fellow is on-call Monday morning until Friday evening. Weekend call is split between all three fellows and spans Friday evening until Monday morning.  

There are typically four residents on the Gyn Onc team: a PGY-3 who is the team leader and is primarily operating; a PGY-4 who is mostly operating and will also help where needed; a PGY-2 who shares floor coverage responsibility with an APP; and a PGY-1 who attends Gyn Onc faculty clinics daily. The daytime resident team is first call for inpatients and all consults.  

Night float is covered by a PGY-3 who is first call for inpatients, all consults and also takes patient phone calls overnight. On weekends, there is a two-person resident team consisting of a PGY-1 and a PGY-2-4 who also are first call for inpatients, consults and patient phone calls.  

Our division is very focused on wellness and outside of work fun! There are frequent social activities planned throughout the year and even events like journal club are more like social events. There is also a focus on making sure clinical fellows are within work hours and required time away from the hospital, which is relevant for overnight OR cases, for example. Faculty reprieve is always given in these circumstances without fellows needing to ask. Fellows make their own schedule and cover vacation days amongst themselves. Holidays are split evenly between all three fellows always with consideration for individual preferences.  

From current fellows: The near east side (the isthmus and the area just east of it), which is a funky, liberal neighborhood with lots of shops, restaurants, coffee shops, bikes, dogs, babies and tattoos. It’s near a lot of parks, has some great bike paths, and gives access to the lakes pretty easily. 

Downtown - near the Capitol Square is home to some of Madison’s best shopping, restaurants, and nightlife. It has the most “city” feel of any of the neighborhoods in Madison and is easily accessible to the hospital and all of what Madison has to offer! 

While there are many others, here are some sites to get a feel: 

Destination Madison - Neat Neighborhoods

The Five Most Popular Neighborhoods for Madison Renters