Internal medicine training in ambulatory gynecology. A house of staff survey

OBJECTIVES: Practicing internists commonly provide gynecologic care, yet internists receive little formal training in ambulatory gynecology. To evaluate current residency training, we surveyed house staff perceptions of their training in gynecology. METHODS: Data were collected from house staff at five Portland, Ore, internal medicine training programs by questionnaire using a Likert scale about training in 24 gynecologic and five nongynecologic internal medicine problems. Responses were compared by level of training, institution, and gender. RESULTS: Responses were received from 195 (89%) of 221 residents. House staff reported less than adequate training in gynecology, particularly in the areas of family planning and medical complications of pregnancy, while reporting much superior training in the traditional medicine problems. CONCLUSIONS: House staff in internal medicine report little training in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecologic problems. Training in family planning may be particularly deficient. Residency programs must seek effective teaching strategies to address this deficiency.