title: Update: A Review of Women's Health Fellowships, Their Role in Interdisciplinary Health Care, and the Need for Accreditation.
abstract: While Women's Health (WH) Fellowships have been in existence since 1990, knowledge of their existence seems limited. Specialized training in WH is crucial to educate leaders who can appropriately integrate this multidisciplinary field into academic centers, especially as the demand for providers confident in the areas of contraception, perimenopause/menopause, hormone therapy, osteoporosis, hypoactive sexual desire disorder, medical management of abnormal uterine bleeding, office based care of stress/urge incontinence, and gender-based medicine are increasing popular and highly sought after. WH fellowship programs would benefit from accreditation from the American Board of Medical Subspecialties and from the American College of Graduate Medical Education, as this may allow for greater recruitment, selection, and training of future leaders in WH. This article provides a current review of what WH trained physicians can offer patients, and also highlights the added value that accreditation would offer the field. Ultimately, accrediting WH fellowships will improve women's health medical education by creating specialists that can serve as academic leaders to help infuse gender specific education in primary residencies, as well as serve as consultants and leaders, and promote visibility and prestige of the field.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Women's Health Institute , Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Foreman
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Holly L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Thacker
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010820:Physicians; D016387:Women's Health