Frequently Asked Questions

We currently accept 6 fellows for a one-year fellowship, which consists of 13 four week blocks. Seven blocks are intensive training in high risk and operative obstetrics and the remaining time is reserved for electives and additional OB back-up.

The OB curriculum emphasizes recognition, management, and stabilization/transport of high-risk obstetrical patients. It also emphasizes the development of procedural skills including vacuum assisted deliveries, operative obstetrics (C-sections), and gynecologic office procedures. Our unique Obstetric Access Clinic (OBAC) allows residents and fellows to provide low and high risk prenatal care with direct supervision from our own obstetric faculty.

The elective curriculum consists of blocks spread throughout year. Elective rotations are available in almost any pediatric, medical, or surgical sub-specialty and are tailored by the fellow to augment individual strengths, address weaknesses, or develop new skills.

One month of elective time can be spent at a rural practice site working closely with a rural family physician. This rotation emphasizes the development of special practice management skills that are needed for practice in a rural setting.

Elective months are designated as protected (Elect-P) or clinic elective (Elect-C). On Elect-C the fellow will cover a fellow’s gyn clinic, addiction medicine clinic precepting in the family medicine residency clinic, and some high risk OB clinics. The remaining time can be used to participate in additional experiences like US training, procedures in interventional radiology, ED shifts, and specialty experiences like sports medicine. Elect-P allows more time intensive experiences like inpatient pediatrics or trauma surgery.

Finally, every fellow is required to develop and complete a scholarly project during the year. Each project will be presented by the end of the year.

As a reminder, we distinguish ourselves from obstetrics fellowship programs with a rural focused curriculum and expanded elective time. We do provide excellent expanded scope obstetric training in a uniquely supportive setting, and our graduates have been highly successful in obtaining hospital credentials for cesarean section deliveries.

Required orientation is the last two weeks of July. Clinical rotation start dates varies from year to year, but in general starts the last two days of July.

The Fellowship Program has been successfully in operation since 1989. The TFM residency program has been in existence since 1979.

The OB rotations are at Tacoma General Hospital (TGH). The L&D suite was completely replaced in 2015 with a new birth center with spacious birth suites, including jacuzzi tubs, expanded OR space and triage rooms.

We have a laborist program that provides 24-hour in-house coverage and runs the OB emergency department. Our OB faculty supervise the TFM fellows and residents in management of their patients and the fellow patients from the high-risk OBAC clinic. They are in house during the day and on call from home at night. OB anesthesia is present 24 hours a day. The OB faculty and laborists are the primary teachers of our fellows. Our family medicine faculty supervise resident deliveries and also work with the fellows. Morning report brings together fellows, residents, students, obstetric and family medicine faculty. Fellows also work closely with private obstetricians, who are a major source of surgical cases.

TGH serves as the referral center for Southwest Washington with a perinatal special care unit and 6 maternal Fetal Medicine specialists, who are active teachers of our residents and fellows.

TGH has the region’s only Level 4 NICU, fully staffed and coordinated by Neonatologists. Fellows may work with NICU staff on neonatal resuscitation skills. This entire complement of services makes this facility an excellent training ground for obstetrics.

Fellows are fully credentialed with core family medicine privileges at Tacoma General Hospital.

Fellows may choose a rural family medicine elective for intensive hands-on experience in a full spectrum practice. Fellows have frequently used elective time to be the attending for our residents on the TFM inpatient service. Electives can address any other desired aspect of family medicine.

Fellows may seek moonlighting opportunities outside expected fellowship work hours for additional acute care or emergency medicine experience. MultiCare Urgent Care has been a good experience for many fellows.

We have chosen not to have a dedicated fellow’s family medicine clinic to preserve elective time for development of additional skills.

The fellows are junior family medicine faculty and are scheduled to precept the residents in the family medicine clinic two to four half days per month during elective months. This experience fosters development of teaching skills and serves to keep family medicine skills current.

Fellows supervise and teach medical students and interns on the labor deck, in the Obstetric Access Clinic, and our residency clinic, Tacoma Family Medicine. On the labor deck, they are the attending physician for interns performing low risk vaginal deliveries. Fellows also support R2s who are on their first month running the labor deck.

The fellows lead our monthly Evidence Based OB Journal Club during the resident didactic conferences, and our High-Risk OB conference, which is attended by our Maternal Fetal Medicine colleagues. Additional opportunities for formal teaching are available in resident conferences.

Elective experiences as an attending on the family medicine inpatient service are available. In all settings, obstetric and/or family medicine faculty are immediately available to support the fellows in teaching and clinical care.

We have a night float call system with rotating day coverage and weeklong night float deck coverage. Fellows coordinate with senior residents to create a separate night and weekend backup schedule for additional C-section experience when labor deck volume is high. There is a laborist attending in house 24/7, with TFM and MOGA faculty on call from home at night.

Some elective choices will have associated call responsibilities.

Fellows are commensurate as a PGY-4. Malpractice insurance is provided by MultiCare on an occurrence basis.

In addition, TFM offers three weeks of vacation, one week of CME with a CME stipend, one week of practice search, health and dental insurance for the fellow and his/her family, stipends for meals when on call, and other standard benefits for MultiCare employees.

The interview plays a central part in our selection process. Interviews are granted by invitation only. The interviews usually begin in September and continue through October/November. This may vary by year, so later inquiries are welcome. The interview will consist of a half day spent in interviews with our family medicine and obstetric faculty, our fellows and Dr. Rebecca Benko, our program director.

Unfortunately, we do not have funding to reimburse our candidates.

No, this is a post-residency program which is not certified by ACGME. Fellows do receive a Fellowship Certificate of Completion and we are recognized nationally as a surgical obstetrics program. Positions are offered by the program director on a rolling basis.

No. The American Board of Family Medicine does not offer a CAQ in Obstetrics, and ACGME does not certify family medicine OB or rural fellowships. Our graduates are eligible to take the Family Medicine Obstetrics Board offered by the American Board of Physician Specialties.

Yes. The AAFP certifies the fellowship for 150 hours of prescribed CME credits for our fellows upon program completion.

No, our sponsor, MultiCare Health Systems does not sponsor J1 Visas.