southern regional hospital (atlanta) & ob/gyn

[unique_always]

Has anyone done OB/GYN Core at Southern Regional Hospital in Atlanta? What did you think of the rotation? And are you having the same problem that South Fulton hospital students are having about getting your grades? Or Southern Regional is ok to do ob/gyn at this point since it is through a different contractor? Any information would be helpful.

[Dark Helmet]

Has anyone done OB/GYN Core at Southern Regional Hospital in Atlanta? What did you think of the rotation? And are you having the same problem that South Fulton hospital students are having about getting your grades? Or Southern Regional is ok to do ob/gyn at this point since it is through a different contractor? Any information would be helpful.


Coming from first hand experience with regards to the Atlanta clinical program, rotations there are like a box of chocolates- you never know what you're gonna get. You will be placed with a preceptor who has a private practice in the area, and go back and forth between the hospital and private practice, but it will not be exclusively at the hospital. Now, how does the whole "box of chocolates" thing come into place??? Your preceptor could be taking in students just for the money and not teach or let you do anything, or you could get a good preceptor who actually cares about teaching and will let you see patients and do things. What kind of experience will you have in Atlanta?? That question can only be answered once you move down there and start the rotation. Kinda sucks, huh?

I believe all the kinks are worked out and you getting credit for Southern Regional will be OK, so I wouldn't worry if I were you. As for all us poor souls who were sent to South Fulton, yes, we are currently standing by and waiting to see what happens in terms of us getting credit (almost 7 months and counting now!!). Every phone call and email either falls on deaf ears, or you'll get transfered to multiple people who know absolutely nothing about the situation (or they are just lying in saying they don't), or emails are simply not even replied to. It's like Medstars and AUA are both pointing the finger at one another in terms of who was at fault, and they don't want to speak about it until it is settled (most likely in 15 years). But hey, I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?? At this point, I'm just laughing it off so I can sleep at night.

[unique_always]

thanks so much for the info.

[SmoothOperator]

what do you mean by "having problems getting grades?". I thought the only problem that existed with Southern regional was whether or not it is green book, which i heard it is.

[Dark Helmet]

what do you mean by "having problems getting grades?". I thought the only problem that existed with Southern regional was whether or not it is green book, which i heard it is.

There are 2 different hospitals in Atlanta. South Fulton Medical Center was the first hospital that AUA students "rotated" at through Medstars. Word is that Medstars never even had a contract with them at all, and now we are suffering the consequences. Southern Regional is the other and only hospital that medstars can rotate students through now. It wasn't greenbook at first but it is now through Morehouse.

[cosine]

There are 2 different hospitals in Atlanta. South Fulton Medical Center was the first hospital that AUA students "rotated" at through Medstars. Word is that Medstars never even had a contract with them at all, and now we are suffering the consequences. Southern Regional is the other and only hospital that medstars can rotate students through now. It wasn't greenbook at first but it is now through Morehouse.

i'm not sure what medstar is but the OB in southern regional is through benham. I'm not sure if Benham IS medstar but i think they are different. Benham seems to be on top of there stuff.

but.......WHO KNOWS!!:confused:

[Dark Helmet]

i'm not sure what medstar is but the OB in southern regional is through benham. I'm not sure if Benham IS medstar but i think they are different. Benham seems to be on top of there stuff.

but.......WHO KNOWS!!:confused:

The only 3rd party companies I know of in Atlanta are Medstars and GMC, and i know for fact that Southern Regional was the other hospital that Medstars had. I have never heard of Benham before, and it didn't bring up anything on a google search right now. I don't think either company changed their name, but you never know. If they do exist, I doubt they are really on top of their stuff though. These companies just want their piece of the pie like everyone else, and as long as they get that, I doubt they care. It's only our education, right?

[SmoothOperator]

what the heck is medstar? A 3rd party company that sucks money out of vulnerable foreign medical students and places them in clinical rotations for a fraction of the fee they charge?

As a prospective student for Ob/Gyn at Southern Regional, what kind of contracting issues should I be worried about?

[DontBelievetheHype]

If you do OB in Atlanta, do not expect to touch anyone. If your cool with that, Atlanta will be awesome.

[Dark Helmet]

what the heck is medstar? A 3rd party company that sucks money out of vulnerable foreign medical students and places them in clinical rotations for a fraction of the fee they charge?

As a prospective student for Ob/Gyn at Southern Regional, what kind of contracting issues should I be worried about?

Medstars and GMC are companies started by local physicians that coordinate rotations and electives for international medical students at hospitals in the Atlanta area. Yes, they have a considerable fee that they charge schools just to initiate use of their services, as well as a monthly fee thereafter. If I remember correctly from the Medstars website, the initiation fee is $25,000 and then $1000 every following month.
In my opinion, the only upside to using these companies is that you can cram a lot of students into rotation spots because the spots are not really inside the hospital, and your only limited by how many preceptors in the area you can hire to take students. The major downside is that the quality of education is significantly reduced by having the students spend majority of their time in a private practice setting, instead of a major teaching hospital. It makes great sense in terms of the profits these companies are generating, but it's all at the expense of our education. As I said before, everyone just wants their piece of the pie.

[DrSpeaksSoftly]

If you do OB in Atlanta, do not expect to touch anyone. If your cool with that, Atlanta will be awesome.

Not necessarily. The OBGYN I rotated with was VERY helpful. She taught us how to do pelvics and smears, examine slides, and lots of other hand's on stuff. But I found out I was incredibly lucky when compared to my collegues, most of whom never touched a patient and some never even performed histories.

However this means absolutely nothing now that I am hearing I may not get credit for this rotation. (at best maybe it will be an "elective") I can't tell you how discouraging it is to find two of my cores may not amount to squat now. And what response have I received from the school after emailing inquiries? Nothing. I find myself unsurprised by this fact though.

[nydoc70]

Why take chances? Just follow the trail of the Atlanta programs run by agencies.