Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship

Get comprehensive obstetrics care training at Essentia Health’s Obstetrics Fellowship at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minnesota.

“If you’re a family medicine resident thinking about taking the fellowship, I would strongly encourage you to do so. The skills that I was able to gather during the fellowship—not just surgical obstetric skills, but taking care of general obstetric patients and becoming more comfortable taking care of high-risk obstetric patients—are integral to my ability to coordinate care in my rural community.”

—Dr. Andrew Snider, Essentia Health Obstetrics Fellowship alumnus

The 12-month program is designed to provide concentrated practical experience for family medicine physicians who intend to practice in a rural community. One to two applicants are awarded the fellowship each year.

View video transcript

Listen to audio description (MP3)

Manage Pregnancies

Gain experience managing high-risk and complicated pregnancies and births. Care for women affected by:

Abnormal labor progress
Antepartum hemorrhage
Complicated laceration repairs
Fetal distress
Hypertension
Gestational diabetes
Infections
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
Malpresentation
Premature labor
Preterm labor
Postmaturity
Postpartum hemorrhage
Preeclampsia
Retained placenta
Shoulder dystocia

Expand your delivery and surgical OB skills as you perform a wide range of procedures, such as:

Assisted vaginal deliveries, such as forceps delivery and vacuum extraction
Caesarean sections (C-sections)
Manual removal of placenta
Post-partum dilation and curettage (D&C)
Post-partum tubal ligation
Vaginal births

C-Section Training

Build on the technical skills you learned in residency. As an obstetric fellow, you’ll not only gain experience performing cesarean births, you’ll improve your ability to manage patients and determine when a C-section is necessary. After your fellowship, you’ll be able to obtain C-section privileges at a rural hospital and feel confident caring for mothers-to-be.

Orientation

Count on Essentia Health to help you become familiar with our facilities, policies, procedures, and technology. You’ll attend a comprehensive physician orientation and learn how to use our integrated electronic health record (EHR) system.

Rotations

Train at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center (Duluth)—where you’ll be part of a team that delivers more than 1,300 babies each year—and at outpatient clinics in surrounding rural communities. Your rotations will include:

Obstetrics (20 weeks)
Outpatient primary care at a rural clinic location (12 weeks)
Critical care (four weeks)
Emergency/trauma (four weeks)
Electives (four weeks)

Professional Development

Be part of a team creating innovative solutions to improve health care in rural settings. Network and build professional development skills at conferences for obstetric specialists. Access resources and services offered by Essentia’s health sciences library.

Teaching Experience

Get experience as an instructor when you:

Serve as a preceptor for family medicine residents
Teach third- and fourth-year medical students during their clinical rotations
Participate in OB rounds, lectures, simulation training, and a year-end OB-GYN in-service

Improve Health Outcomes for Women & Babies

Many women living in rural communities have to travel far from home for obstetrical care. Equip yourself to provide maternity services in a rural community so your patients can get the care they need closer to home.

You can make a difference in rural communities. Read profiles of our current fellows and why they chose the Obstetrics Fellowship at Essentia Health.