Mission
Our mission is to train leaders in Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGYN) to advance health equity through justice-oriented, sustainable improvements to the reproductive healthcare of marginalized and underserved communities in global and rural settings.
What is this program?
The University of Washington Global and Rural Health Fellowship in OB/GYN (GRF-OBGYN) is a 2-year training program that provides the knowledge, leadership skills, and hands-on experiences needed to help physicians become effective clinicians, managers, advocates, and leaders in the fields of global and rural health. The UWGRF is a collaboration between the UW Department of Global Health, which has been training fellows in Internal Medicine since 2016, and Emergency Medicine. The UWGRF-OBGYN draws on the extensive expertise, infrastructure, and curricular/training resources of the UWGRF, expanding the program to train fellows in OB/GYN beginning in 2024.
This fellowship is a response to the urgent need for physicians who are prepared and motivated to address the significant challenges to providing high-quality and equitable healthcare to those in resource-limited settings in the United States and around the world. Acknowledging that the fields of global and rural health are complex and embedded in structures of racism, sexism, and colonialism, the GRF-OBGYN is committed to improving the health care systems that affect the most marginalized populations.
The GRF-OBGYN trains fellows to address the most pressing issues facing global and rural reproductive and gynecologic health through varied approaches to health systems strengthening and clinical/implementation research. With cultural humility and an equity lens, fellows prepare themselves to contribute to improving medical and surgical education, health care quality, and health outcomes in maternal health, obstetrical care, sexual and reproductive health, and gynecologic surgery.
The GRF-OBGYN is a two-year training program featuring integrated global and rural health clinical and teaching experiences alongside the structured UWGRF curriculum. This curriculum incorporates global health research and leadership training, clinical training with tribal citizens on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, structured didactic curriculum, mentorship, and teaching opportunities.
Learn more about the first and second years of the fellowship as well as the program’s core components on our Program Overview page here.
Program Leadership
Fellowship Program Director, Global and Rural Fellowship in OBGYN
Associate Fellowship Program Director, Global and Rural Fellowship in OBGYN
Fellowship Program Director, Global and Rural Fellowship in Internal Medicine
Chair, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Fellowship Faculty, Global and Rural Fellowship in OBGYN
Erin McCoy, MPH
Fellowship Program Administrator, Global and Rural Fellowship in OBGYN
Email: obfellow@uw.edu