The clerkship director and a staff member with KU School of Medicine-Wichita's Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology were among the presenters at the annual OB-GYN education conference hosted jointly by the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, while KU School of Medicine-Wichita's OB-GYN residency program manager had a hand in helping plan the conference.

The theme for this year’s CREOG and APGO annual meeting, which took place Feb. 28-March 2 in San Antonio, was Transforming Obstetrics and Gynecology Education: Brave Solutions to Enduring Challenges.

During a 60-minute professional development workshop session, Laurie Francis, the department’s medical student education coordinator, shared tips and tricks with other coordinators so they can become more efficient and less stressed in their jobs.

She shared strategies and insights to resources she uses, like digital sticky notes and Rocketbook, that can enhance productivity and organize schedules and routines. Rocketbook is a reusable, sustainable notebook with paper that can be easily erased.

Ashley Robbins, M.D., who became the department’s clerkship director in 2021, made a poster presentation on a yearlong research project based on medical students’ perceptions of the OB-GYN clerkship, depending on whether they did a rural preceptorship.

The survey found that while students who did rural preceptorships found them educational and would recommend them, it wasn’t a determining factor in the level of satisfaction the students have in the OB-GYN clerkship, she said. The findings weren’t significant because students at both the Wichita and Kansas City campuses indicated they are already highly satisfied with the clerkship, Robbins said.

Other OB-GYN faculty and staff who attended the conference were residency program director Zachary Kuhlmann, D.O., residency program assistant director Simon Patton, M.D., clerkship assistant director Janna Chibry, M.D., department manager Jennifer Keomany and residency program manager Kat Woods.

Woods gave the conference quite a bit of attention in the months and weeks leading up to the actual meeting.

Woods, who has been the residency program manager since 2021, is an active member of the Association of Program Managers in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and this year is serving as its program planning chair.

With a self-claimed passion for planning and organizing events, Woods worked with planners from CREOG and APGO to help make decisions on the various details that go into staging a conference: from determining the themes of the meeting to general session and plenary speakers to where to put presenters and have networking sessions.

One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s conference, according to Patton, “was that there is lots of great innovation going on around the country with obstetrics and gynecologic simulations to help residents get experience.”