The department offers sub-specialty care and training on:

General Program Description

Our fellowship programs provide for an outstanding academic environment for training the next generation of academic OBGYN specialists grounded in a thorough understanding of physiology and pathophysiology in the subspecialties of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The fellowship curriculums to learning in the subspecialties’ training serve as the foundation for the fellowship learning goals and objectives. The clinical facilities available for training in the fellowship programs include St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Black Lion Hospital and Centers in Europe and other countries depending on availability of funds.

Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Fellowship Program

SPHMMC is primary referral center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Ethiopia. This site contains room with state of the art ultrasound machines and antepartum testing CTG machine. Emphasis is placed upon treatment of difficult medical and genetic complications of pregnancy as well as an array of fetal anomalies. Fellows will gain experience in basic evaluation of the high risk pregnant patient, ultrasonography and related sonographic tools, invasive prenatal diagnosis techniques, amnioreduction, cordocentesis, fetal echocardiography, and training in nuchal translucency. Preconceptional and genetic counseling is also the basis of many consultations.

The 24 months of outpatient and inpatient clinical MFM emphasize ultrasound, genetics and maternal/surgical complications of pregnancy, including diabetes, infectious disease, cardiac, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Within these 24 months, the fellows will receive supervised self-directed training in perinatal ultrasound throughout their stay in the program. During this ultrasound time, fellows will accomplish educational seminars on different important selected topics of maternal complications of pregnancy and obstetrics ultrasound. Fellows are expected to learn and develop their professional experience using educational resources of Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Fetal Medicine Foundation available online free of charge. Fellows are expected to be competent in nuchal translucency, cervical length measurement and fetal echocardiography. The required 12 months of clinical rotations are structured to gain inpatient experiences in the maternity ward, labor ward, adult and neonatal ICUs. Two weeks of elective is required in the neonatal intensive care unit to provide the fellow with an appreciation of the complexities related to the care and follow-up of babies born prematurely. Separate two weeks of elective for adult ICU and anesthesiology unit are required.

A 2-month attachment to maternal fetal medicine units of partner universities in the USA and other countries would be arranged through long term twinning programs involving fellows/faculty short-term visits depending on the availability of funds.Fellows would spend on average, three half-days per week at these high risk clinics during their training period. The fellows will follow and manage selected high pregnancy cases at these clinics and fellows will also spend three half days doing obstetrics ultrasound examinations as part of the outpatient activities.

Fellows are expected to take active role in clinical conferences, seminars, small group discussion, journal clubs that will be conducted by the Department of obstetrics and gynecology. They will also participate and lead the conduct of quarterly maternal death review.Our fellowship program offers a robust training experience in ultrasound. Ultrasound training occurs throughout the fellowship program and is acquired through hands-on scanning and online educational resources available on the website of Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Fetal Medicine Foundation. Fellows completing our program will be highly competent sonographers with nuchal translucency, cervical length, and fetal echocardiography assessments.

Simulation is also an integral part of the fellowship training program. A high fidelity simulation laboratory is available at the institution for medical student, resident, and fellow training. Fellows participate as faculty in the resident/nursing simulation sessions. Advanced simulations are available to accent fellow education related to the management of the critically ill gravida. The department is planning to avail simulation on Ultrasound Education for advanced procedural simulations (e.g. amniocentesis, cordocentesis, shunt placement, etc.) Fellows are required to design, prepare protocol, and implement a research plan of sufficient quality during their training period. They are expected to take biostatistics and epidemiology course for one month in their first year of the training as one of inputs for their research process .The completion of the program requires official defense of research result in front of interested audience and a board composed of three MFM faculty.

Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program

A two year training program to produce academically oriented gynecologic oncologists, superb abdominal-pelvic surgeons, scientists and leaders in the field of women’s cancer. It has rotations in USA and Germany. This affords the fellows an opportunity to work and operate with different international gynecologic oncologists, an exceptional surgical training opportunity that will expose them to the full complement of surgical techniques ranging from minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic procedures, to challenging and ultra-radical open surgeries. We have tumor boards and pathology conferences, grand rounds and morbidity and mortality conferences at both sites.

Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program

The desire to have children is virtually universal, and the right to reproduce is recognized by many international conferences as basic human right. Today there are over 186 million couples in developing countries alone (excluding China) that are affected by infertility. Rates of infertility vary considerably from country to country; in the worst affected areas, over 25% of couples may be unable to have children. The average figure for Sub Saharan Africa is 16%, and this is a significant magnitude.

Apart from the obvious physical and psychological trauma it incurs on these affected individuals, there is also a tremendous economical consequence on the country draining its hard currency away. Realizing this major problem, SPHMMC OBGYN department has launched a fellowship program in reproductive health and infertility fellowship program in 2015, which again is first of its kind in the country. The fellowship program is run in coordination with experts from the University of Michigan. It also maintains contact with REI centers in Egypt, Ghana and Sudan.

Since its inception, through the fellowship program, clients suffering from this problem are being regularly treated in both out-patient and in-patient set ups. In the coming few months, the unit is expected to undertake its first IVF (In-vitro fertilization) treatment cycles. There are currently three fellows enrolled in the fellowship program.

Family Planning and Reproductive Health Fellowship Program

SPHMMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has an enthusiastic and excellent Family Planning fellowship committed to providing comprehensive contraceptive and family planning services. We are the opening Center of excellence on reproductive health research, clinical care and training. The model “Michu” clinic offers a range of subspecialty family planning and reproductive health services. Click here for more information on family planning fellowship program.