Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) Residency Program Clinic
Women’s health care services for all ages.
infant deliveries per month on average at Marian during 2024 (highest number on the Central Coast). Marian’s record for deliveries in one year is 3,290.
Marian Regional Medical Center’s Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) Residency Program continues to advance our organization’s healing mission by providing women’s health care services to local women of all ages. OB/GYNs are not just physicians for pregnancy; they are physicians for women at every stage of life, from adolescence on.
THE CHALLENGE
The OB/GYN Residency Program has flourished over the past five years, and the program is now at a crucial point where there is a need to grow by opening a standalone OB/GYN Residency Program Clinic.
Marian continues to have the region’s busiest emergency department and the highest number of infant deliveries.
Establishing a permanent home for the OB/GYN Residency Program, which trains physician residents to provide essential prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum services to thousands of Central Coast residents, will help alleviate a nationwide and local shortage of OB/GYN physicians—a shortfall that is expected to reach 22,000 physicians in the U.S. by 2050, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Furthermore, the Santa Maria Valley currently has 12 Dignity Health OB/GYNs for a population of 250,000.
California has a projected shortage of more than 1,000 OB/GYN physicians by 2030. The ideal ratio of OB/GYNs in our community is 14 per 100,000 people. The number of OB/ GYNs in the US is limited by the number of residency spots that are nationally available.
Gynecologist shortage
THE VISION
The continued success of the OB/GYN Residency Program will provide a pipeline to recruit and retain OB/GYN physicians in the Santa Maria Valley and Central Coast. The OB/GYN Residency Program Clinic will also provide women’s health care services to a vastly diverse and medically vulnerable patient population.
The OB/GYN Residency Program Clinic will offer a wide array of services, including birthing education, postpartum and lactation support, perinatal mood disorder support, early parenting support, nutrition counseling, women’s preventive
Why does OB/GYN Residency need a clinic and educational space?
PATIENT ACCESS
PHYSICAL SPACE OUTGROWN
The program needs a larger space to meet the educational needs of our residents, medical students, faculty, and other learners.
The clinic will increase access for local patients. Population is projected to increase 30% by 2050. The clinic will be staffed by OB/GYN and Family Medicine residents, supervised by experienced OB/GYN teaching faculty.
SIMULATION TRAINING
An integral part of modern medical education. The new clinic will have space for simulation equipment for OB/GYN and Family Medicine residents.
IMPROVED RESIDENT EDUCATION
Physician residents will have a dedicated clinic space for resident teaching, state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment, simulation training, and teaching space for outpatient procedures—in short, greatly expanded women’s health care training.
CLINICAL INNOVATION
Continuous quality improvement is a key aspect of residency training and education. The new clinic will allow programs for improved clinical care pathways and efficiencies. We’ll share these future innovations nationally through publications and research and locally with our community physician partners.
PATIENT EDUCATION
Designated spaces will be available for group teaching sessions with our patients.
care, as well as acute and chronic management of gynecologic conditions. A significant benefit of this clinic will be the addition of translators in Spanish and Mixteco languages. Once open, the new, 8,700-square-foot OB/ GYN Residency Program Clinic will be operated by the Pacific Central Coast Health Centers.
The Marian Regional Medical Center Foundation’s fundraising goal of $3.8 million will support the OB/GYN Residency Program Clinic’s equipment needs and construction costs.
What is an OB/GYN physician?
An OB/GYN physician specializes in women’s health care, extensively trained in providing Obstetrics, Gynecology, and women’s primary care. They are trained to provide both medical management and are trained as obstetric and gynecologic surgeons. OB/GYN physicians are the sole primary care providers for many women.
Why did Marian Regional Medical Center start an OB/GYN residency program?
Marian Regional Medical Center began the OB/GYN Residency
What is a resident?
Physicians complete a residency training program after medical school in a chosen specialty to become an independently practicing physician. To become an OB/ GYN physician, residents must complete 4 years of training (approximately 14,000 hours) in the medical and surgical management of women’s health conditions.
Program in 2018 to address our local shortage of OB/GYNs. Our OB/GYN Residency Program has a total of 12 residents (a fouryear program with three residents per year). Studies indicate that residents tend to practice near the hospitals where they train (77.8% of residents who train in California will stay in California, and 56% of residents will stay within 100 miles of where they train [AAFP, 2013]).
The OB/GYN Residency Program has already been successful in recruiting our graduates to stay and practice in our community.
About Marian Regional Medical Center
Marian Regional Medical Center is a state-of-the-art, 191-bed medical center located in Santa Maria, California. The modern facility is home to a broad array of services including a level II trauma center, a level III neonatal intensive care unit, a nationally recognized cardiac care center, and boasts the Central Coast’s only Comprehensive Community Cancer Program as recognized by the Commission on Cancer. Marian has been recognized for quality and patient safety and named one of America’s 250 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades®
About Pacific Central Coast Health Centers
Dignity Health’s Pacific Central Coast Health Centers (PHC) is a non-profit community clinic organization comprised of nearly 50 health centers located primarily from Templeton to Lompoc; we also have health centers in Bakersfield and Ventura. Our experienced physicians and advanced practice providers offer a wide range of primary and specialty care services. PHC is a part of Dignity Health Central Coast’s award-winning network of outstanding hospitals, imaging centers, laboratories, and post-acute services.
References:
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/america-s-medical-residents-numbers-0 https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2013/1115/p704.html
https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bureau-health-workforce/data-research/projections-supplydemand-2018-2030.pdf
http://www.sbcag.org/uploads/2/4/5/4/24540302/forecast_2050_draft.pdf
