Research

Facilities

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences maintains its basic research facilities on the 11th floor of the Bressler Building . This facility consists of approximately 15,000 square feet of wet laboratory space and is linked to the main hospital by corridors. The space is shared by the basic scientists already noted. The equipment contained therein is state of the art and allows for a full range of studies ranging from sophisticated molecular biology to whole animal instrumentation.

Research Time

This Fellowship program was created on the principle of block time. There are 21 months dedicated to research. It is expected that this volume of research time will allow all Fellows to design and conduct research of sufficient quality to assure completion of the thesis prior to graduation from the Fellowship. The block time is arranged so that the Fellow is not out of research for more than a few days a week. When assigned to the core MFM clinical service, the Fellow will be scheduled for clinical activities at least 8 half-days per week. The remainder of the time, clinical activity permitting, may be spent in the laboratory.

When assigned to a research month the Fellows' research shall be interrupted only by didactic sessions and attending the resident High Risk Clinic (one-half day each per week). These clinical activities total six hours/week, well within the 10% time limit allowed. Night call remains constant throughout the Fellowship as described above.

Occasional cross coverage for critical clinical activities may be required of one Fellow for another's vacation or attendance at scientific or didactic meetings. This loss from research is more than made up by the extra two or three months of research built into the current schedule.

Library, Literature Search Programs, Databases, Medical Records

Members of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Maryland are linked together by a Departmental Intranet with full access to the Internet.

Within the departmental library and from their office, Fellows will have access to the Departmental intranet and The University of Maryland Health Sciences Library. The University Library allows access to 58 on-line databases and over 2000 online journals and textbooks, including, AIDSLINE , BioethicsLine , CancerLit , Cochrane Library , Current Contents Connect (CCC) , ETOH (Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database) , Journal Citation Reports , MD Consult , MEDLINE , Micromedex , PubMed , PsycINFO , Science Citation Index Expanded , TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network) . The University of Maryland School of Medicine Library is across the street from the UMMS. A state of the art teleconference center is also located within the department.

Specific consultation on statistical issues, study design, and analysis is available through the UMB School of Epidemiology. Assistance with and further training in research and study design, and implementation are available through the UM SOM Office for Research Subjects and The Dean's Office.