Dr. Patricia Wyatt-Harris has had a constant in her practice since completing residency at Wesley Medical Center in 1986: teaching obstetrics and gynecology to medical students and residents. 

Wyatt-Harris, who practices at College Hill Obstetrics and Gynecology, is a clinical associate professor at KU School of Medicine-Wichita. She enjoys working with the doctors-to-be and finds the benefits of teaching broad-ranging.  

"Wichita has an excellent medical community, and it's because of the medical school. A lot of cities our size don't have the resources we have," Wyatt-Harris said. "I think those of us who teach keep up a lot better, because we want to teach the students and residents the latest evidence-based medicine."

A pioneer in her field

Wyatt-Harris, a Wichita Southeast High School and Wichita State University graduate, went through medical school when there were few female OB-GYNs. She graduated with the sixth class of the KU School of Medicine-Wichita in 1981.  

Wyatt-Harris and her husband, Jim, an engineer who now teaches at the Independent School, had married while she was in medical school in Kansas City. Jim had a job and then graduate school with regular hours. Still, juggling the long hours of residency and home life with the first of their two sons wasn't easy.  

"I was the third woman to go through the Wesley OB-GYN residency program, and the first one to be married and have a baby," said Wyatt-Harris.  

"If you did the same work and did all you were expected to do, there was no problem," she said. "I wanted to get in there and do the work and do the interesting stuff. I made sure that I took all the same calls as the guys did."

"The one issue was there wasn't anything set up for maternity leave, so I took all my sick leave and vacation," Wyatt-Harris said. "It was kind of overwhelming at the time, but it paved the way."  

Wichita campus offered innovative model

The attraction of a hands-on medical education - she's an "experiential" learner - had drawn her to complete her training at the Wichita campus, which was groundbreaking in its community-based model.

"It was exciting to go to a place where you spent time in private practice and learned on the job," she said. "Wichita was excited to have us. It's really amazing that there are so many physicians who put in their time. It was very innovative at the time. I didn't realize that then."  

After finishing residency, Wyatt-Harris went into practice with Dr. Michael Brown, who had been chief resident when she was at Wesley, and the College Hill group now has four physicians.  

Latest technology: treatment and teaching

"Having babies is pretty much the same as it always has been," she said, but the use of laparoscopy for hysterectomies and other procedures is an area that's undergone tremendous change.

Laparoscopy evolved from a diagnostic tool where the doctor peered through a scope much like one would a microscope and then would perform surgery in the traditional, more invasive method. It progressed to where images could be viewed on a screen and then to the current tool, which guides robotic surgery with Da Vinci and other systems. Wyatt-Harris and Brown were early adopters, realizing the benefits to patients, who faced less pain and shorter recuperations.  

The tool also benefits obese patients, who often could not undergo traditional surgery because the risks outweighed the advantages. "In general, there were some women who I would never have offered a hysterectomy and now it's an option" with laparoscopy, she said.

The training in robotic, minimally invasive surgery provided Wyatt-Harris and Brown another opportunity to teach, as they went to cities near and far to train fellow physicians in the procedure. "I've actually learned a lot by teaching others," she said.