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Emory University
The Fellowship in Family Planning at Emory University was established in 2001 and provides post-graduate Obstetrician/Gynecologists the opportunity to study research methods while advancing clinical skills in family planning and abortion services. The fellowship is conducted within the Family Planning Division of the Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Training in all aspects of contraceptive management and abortion care is provided, primarily at Grady Memorial Hospital. Fellows are encouraged to develop their own research ideas under the mentorship of senior colleagues. Participation in ongoing division projects and collaboration with leaders in the fields of reproductive health is also encouraged. The program at Emory emphasizes teaching, and has weekly Family Planning conferences with medical students, residents and providers. Past educational and research activities have been largely focused on the development of tools for educating students, clinicians, and patients in contraception, like the Pocket Guide for Managing Contraception. Fellows are appointed as Clinical Instructors in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and also provide some generalist services.
Clinical training includes all methods of uterine evacuation, including: manual aspiration, suction curettage, second trimester D&E, early medical abortion, and medical induction. Training sites include a hospital-based ambulatory surgery service and clinic, and a community clinic that provides abortion and contraceptive services. Training in contraceptive management is provided at a hospital-based Title X Family Planning Clinic where all the latest methods of contraception are provided, including implants, as well as a consultation service in which faculty and fellows manage patients with complicated histories referred from throughout the Grady and Emory systems. Transvaginal ultrasound is performed in the context of abortion care. We provide laparoscopic and hysteroscopic sterilization through the Ambulatory Gynecology service. Additional clinical opportunities are available at the Teen Services Clinic and a comprehensive Gynecology and Obstetrics service, both at a large, urban, public hospital where fellows act as attendings and work with residents and students (Grady). Fellows may choose to complete a Masters in Public Health with emphasis in epidemiology, global health, health policy and management, behavioral science/health education, or biostatistics, or a Masters of Science in Clinical Research at the Rollins School of Public health at Emory University. Research may be conducted on a wide range of topics in contraception and abortion, and in collaboration with faculty at the School of Medicine or the School of Public Health, and/or investigators at the Centers for Disease Control. Fellows may choose a research mentor from a formal Fellowship Mentoring Committee that includes faculty from these sites. Most fellows design and conduct a protocol that serves as both their fellowship research project and their MPH thesis. Our senior research coordinator assists fellows with IRB requirements, and protocol design and implementation. Monthly research meetings with the director, fellows, coordinator, and other involved faculty and staff facilitate full division participation and discussion on the progress of current projects. Collaboration for training, educational, and research activities are available within the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, as well as with other groups. In particular, fellows receive instruction in reproductive and hormonal physiology as well as research mentorship from faculty in the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Division. In addition, fellows have the opportunity to work with: other departments within the School of Medicine, the Rollins School of Public Health, The Centers for Disease Control, Feminist Women’s Health Center, the Emory Regional Training Center, Bridging the Gap Foundation, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, and other fellowship sites. Mentorship throughout the program is provided by Dr. Cwiak and Dr. Hatcher. Dr. Hatcher holds weekly teaching sessions with the fellows and provides research mentorship on selected projects. Dr. Cwiak assists with clinical and research concerns of the fellows on an as-needed basis. She conducts the division research meetings as well as individual sessions to discuss fellows’ progress and concerns. Additional research mentorship is available from expert faculty for individual projects (see above). Fellows may choose an international placement that provides training experience, observation of service provision, and/or research activities. Dr. Hatcher, the Global Health Department at Rollins School of Public Health, and the Fellowship National Office assist fellows with contacts, resources, and arrangements for placement.
Carrie Cwiak, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Connecticut, which was followed by the Fellowship in Family Planning at Emory University. During the Fellowship, she completed a Masters Degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. She is currently a faculty member in the Family Planning Division at Emory and Interim Director of the fellowship. She is Medical Director of the Family Planning Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, as well as the Women’s Options Service which was funded by the Kenneth J. Ryan Residency Training Program. She is currently studying contraceptive continuation rates both in women after childbirth and after abortion. Other research activities include: developing interactive teaching tools in contraceptive management, and contraception after medical and surgical abortion. She provides and teaches contraceptive management, general OB/GYN, as well as abortion services at Grady Hospital and Feminist Women’s Health Center. Robert Hatcher, MD, MPH, is Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. He served in the US Public Health Service and was also an Epidemic Intelligence Officer with the Centers for Disease Control. He served as director of the Emory University Family Planning Program until the mid-nineties. During his career in medicine, Dr. Hatcher has devoted himself to helping shape "humane and responsible reproductive health policies" on a national and international basis. He is a regular consultant for the World Health Organization, JHPIEGO, and pharmaceutical companies. He has provided expert and compassionate clinical care for thousands of patients, has helped educate generations of doctors, and has published extensively. Dr. Hatcher is perhaps most-well known for his textbook, Contraceptive Technology, now in its 18th edition and the handbook, A Pocket Guide to Managing Contraception, in its 8 th edition. Founder of the Contraceptive Technology Conference as well as the non-profit foundation, Bridging the Gap. His research activities have included: teaching contraception to medical students, norplant, condom breakage, condoms among sex workers, rhogam in the first trimester, and cancer risk with Depo-provera, among others. He has been awarded the APHA’s Carl S. Shultz Award as well as NFPRHA’s Irvin M. Cushner Award.
Research and Clinical Interests of the Directors
Current Faculty Research Projects
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