Hello OBGYN team,

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The turbulence, highs and lows, celebrations, and disappointments seem to be all around us, and not just in the weather.

I am proud to see that as a department we are committed to civil and respectful discourse and communication and value all of our community members regardless of their political affiliation, creed, color, or sexual orientation.

We must continue to uphold the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Best,

Dee E. Fenner, MD

The Michigan Medicine Department of OBGYN has been ranked #6 by the 2022 US News and World Report, up from #10 in 2021! These rankings are based solely on ratings by medical school deans and senior faculty from over 100 medical schools from around the country. The deans and faculty are asked to rank programs based solely on medical education and curriculum for any given specialty.

Our ranking clearly demonstrates the national recognition and the high regard for the education we provide for all medical students, not just those choosing obstetrics and gynecology. Thank you all for your help to train tomorrow’s leaders and best. This truly is a department effort - nurses, clerks, MAs, midwives, administrative staff, and physicians at all levels.

A special thank you to Drs. Maya Hammoud, Dave Marzano, Bethany Skinner, Angela Liang, Samantha Kempner, Anita Malone, and Mark Chames for their leadership and selfless support for our medical student programs!

A warm welcome to our incoming PGY I's: Kyle Latack, LeAnn Louis, Emma Manual, Annie Minns, Darington Richardson, and Brooke Spencley.

And congratulations to the 17 Michigan students who matched into OBGYN this year - the highest on record!

Thank you to all of the faculty, residents, and admins who helped make this application season so successful.

Last week, Dr. Erica Marsh, MD, MSCI, FACOG took part in a discussion about uterine fibroid research and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke's bill, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021.

The event - “Supporting Our Sisters: Transforming Uterine Fibroid Awareness into Action" - was hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.

In their new study, Dr. Alex Peahl, MD, MSc and a team of Michigan Medicine medical students - Chloe Ramirez Biermann, Monica S. Choo, Kelsey Carman, Jonathan Y. Siden, and Annie Minns - evaluate how virtual prenatal support groups at Michigan Medicine addressed heightened mental health, psychosocial support, and anticipatory guidance needs in pregnant patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

To help medical students, the AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium has collaborated with the “InsideTheBoards” podcast to create a health systems science (HSS) podcast series. Each episode of the HSS series offers on-the-go learning by breaking down practice exam questions with expert guests.

In the first episode of the podcast series, Dr. Maya Hammoud, MD, MBA, gives an overview of health systems science and discusses its growing importance due to COVID-19.

Kudos to Dr. Erica Marsh, MD, MSCI, FACOG for her tremendous efforts to raise awareness and decrease disparities in the diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination for COVID-19. Learn more about her work to promote inclusivity among African Americans and Hispanics/Latino populations through her NIH-funded project, Communities Conquering COVID (C3), on Michigan Health Lab:

Dr. Marsh was also interviewed recently by Channel 4 News about C3's work. Tune in (~8 minutes in) to hear Dr. Marsh speak about the project!

The Department of OBGYN is home to 10 Board-certified and non-Board certified clinical and research fellowships in Obstetrics and Gynecology. To promote cross-specialty collaboration, all trainees take part in our Fellowship Common Curriculum. These ½ day educational seminars focus on numerous topics relevant to clinical research and academic leadership, including research design and implementation, identifying funding opportunities, manuscript timelines and preparation, how to be an effective teacher, and employment contracts.

This year, our Fellowship Common Curriculum was held virtually. Dr. Justin Dimick, MD, MPH, Chair of the Department of Surgery, presented on "Job Crafting: Phenotyping, Goal Setting, and Trajectory Mapping." And Dr. Shitanshu Uppal, Associate Professor, Department of ObGyn and Program Director, Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, spoke on the topic of "Quality Improvement: How to Get Started." 

Dr. Sarah Bell recently published an article - "Two rare presentations of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the cervix in teenagers at a low-resource teaching hospital in Ghana: A case series," based on her clinical research experience in Ghana on her resident elective.

The publication was a collaborative effort, with contributions from Dr. Emma Lawrence, Dr. Richard Lieberman, and Dr. Carolyn Johnston from Michigan Medicine, and the gynecology oncology team from Kumasi, Ghana.

Dr. Maya Hammoud, MD, MBA was featured on a March 12th PBS/NPR Podcast - "What Will it Take to Diversify Medicine?"

Tune in around minute 23 to hear about Dr. Hammoud's personal journey into the field of medicine and her application process at the University of Michigan!

Dr. Emma Lawrence was awarded an NPGH Fogarty Fellowship, a one-year (July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022) NIH global health research fellowship. The Fellowship will fund her research in Ghana focused on implementing and evaluating a model of home blood pressure monitoring in pregnant women at risk of preeclampsia.

Congratulations to Dr. Nicholas Raja, recipient of the 2021 Galen’s Medical Society Golden Beeper Award, and Dr. Luke Burns, recipient of the Bronze Beeper Award. These awards are voted on by Michigan Medicine medical students and presented to the house officers who best exemplify the highest standard of education, leadership, and patient care. Drs. Raja and Burns were chosen as the top resident educators amongst the >1200 residents at Michigan Medicine.

Dr. Anita Malone, Assistant Professor, and Associate OBGYN Residency Program Director was selected as the 2021 Silver Shovel Awardee by the Galen’s Society. This award, given by the students for excellence in teaching and dedication to medical student education, is one of the highest awards a faculty member can be given at the University of Michigan School of Medicine.

Dr. Okeoma Mmeje, MD, MPH, has been selected as a Fellow in the University of Michigan Public Engagement Faculty Fellowship Program.

The two part-Fellowship, sponsored by The Center for Academic Innovation, consists of a "Studio Experience" phase focused on learning, community-building, and project development, and a "Project Support" phase with the opportunity to request in-kind support and up to $10,000 for an ambitious public engagement project.

Dr. Alli Straubhar will be provided with an $8,000 award to support her research project entitled, “Improving Quality of Life using Patient Reported Outcomes Measures Post-operatively via Text messaging: a randomized control trial (PROMPT study).”

Dr. Jean Siedel will serve as Dr. Straubhar’s research mentor on the project.

As part of a Department-wide initiative to improve communication, the Department of OBGYN is pleased to welcome Denise Williams, PhD, MS, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Michigan Medicine Organizational Effectiveness Consultant, and Jileah Lueth, Michigan Medicine HR associate, for a Grand Rounds on feedback. All OBGYN faculty and staff are encouraged to attend!

Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021

Time: 7:30 am - 8:30 am

Location: Zoom

During this session, we will be describing the SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) model of communication, and specifically how the SBI approach can be utilized to more effectively provide feedback to others. We will also discuss how we all can become more effective at receiving constructive feedback from others, in the spirit of continuous personal and professional growth.

Join the Wellness Committee and your OBGYN colleagues over zoom to share crafting tips, discussions, and connections!

Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021

Time: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm

Location: Zoom

The Office for Health Equity and Inclusion invites you to attend the virtual DEI Symposium: Making Space for Belonging Through Racial Healing.

Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021

Time: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Location: Zoom (Registration Required)

Mark your calendars for the 2021 Annual Norman F. Miller University of Michigan Alumni Society Meeting. Next year's meeting will be held on Friday, September 24, 2021. Stay tuned for more details!

Dr. Moyer, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor, with a joint appointment in the Departments OBGYN and Learning Health Sciences. In addition, she is the Associate Director of Global REACH, an institute that coordinates global research for the medical school, and Co-Director of the Global Health Research Certificate Program.

Dr. Moyer joined the University of Michigan in 1997 and has since established herself as an exceptional mentor and accomplished researcher with an impressive body of work in maternal and neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Moyer has mentored many of our OBGYN faculty and trainees, including current Global Women's Health Fellow, Dr. Emma Lawrence, who has been a mentee of Dr. Moyer since 2011. “Throughout med school, Cheryl kept me really engaged and excited about global health when my head was in the trenches of med school,” Lawrence said. “In the past two years, she’s become my primary research mentor, reading every word that I’ve written, helping me revise manuscripts, helping me submit...Particularly this year, with all the struggles of COVID and things changing with the pandemic, Cheryl is so positive and enthusiastic. It’s easy to feel pretty down, but one conversation with Cheryl always lifts me up.”

Dr. Moyer has built an international reputation for her research and training activities, including leading NIH-funded training programs and her own research on maternal and neonatal outcomes in Ghana. As part of the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Dr. Moyer was recently selected for the Mid-Career Leadership Award, which honors mid-career researchers who have exhibited extraordinary leadership in global health.

Dr. Alex Peahl welcomed the newest addition to her family, Charles "Charlie" Jonathan Peahl on March 11, 2021. Dr. Carrie Bell delivered baby Charlie at 1:48 am, weighing 8 pounds, 9 oz, and measuring 21 inches.

This month, our Michigan Medicine Department of ObGyn faculty and learners participated in a virtual book club sponsored by Drs. Dee Fenner and Hope Haefner.

We discussed the book “Against Their Will: North Carolina’s Sterilization Program and the campaign for reparations.” The conversation was led by residents, Drs. Luke Burns and AnneMarie Opipari, and moderated by Kayte Spector-Bagdady, JD, MBE.

This summer, the OBGYN Wellness Committee will be participating in the Growing Kindness Project - a campaign that creates a ripple of goodwill through the gifting of flowers! We'll share flowers with those in our department and community.

Want to help grow or harvest flowers? Want to help make or distribute bouquets? Want to hustle garage sales to find vases?

We’d love your help! Contact Natalie Gulau!

The Creative Services photo studio is open again and accepting appointments!

The photo studio is located on the second floor of the North Campus Administrative Complex (NCAC). Faculty can currently sign up for a time in March or April.