Family medicine residents complete ALSO certification

The USA Health Department of Family Medicine recently held a training program for 16 family medicine residents and four attending physicians on Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) at the Strada Patient Care Center.

The certification program is an evidence-based, interprofessional and multidisciplinary course that equips maternity care teams with skills to effectively manage obstetric emergencies. During the course, instructors incorporated teamwork skills and communication strategies so everyone could practice managing emergencies, reducing errors, and increasing patient safety.

“The course is valuable for physicians because it provides up-to-date information regarding diagnosis and management, and it gives an opportunity to practice skills that may be used infrequently but are critically important when needed,” said Rebecca Sollie, M.D., a family medicine physician at USA Health and an associate professor of family medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine who served as the course director.

The training is part of a new obstetrics fellowship program that began in July at the Department of Family Medicine. The initiative aims to provide more obstetrics care experience to residents in rural and urban areas of Alabama.

Gisella Ward, M.D., M.P.H., a first-year family medicine resident, said, “The content provided in the online ALSO course prior to the in-person training was reinforced with hands-on experience, and I left the training feeling more prepared to handle the most emergent obstetric situations.”

Instructors for the certification course were Sollie; Jenna Pfleeger, M.D., a family medicine physician at USA Health; Amelia Hewes, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist at USA Health; Elizabeth Lee, M.D., a family medicine physician at Cahaba Family Medicine; and Shelley Wagner, M.D., and Sadhika Jamisetti, M.D., family medicine physicians at Monroe County Hospital.

Learn more about the Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship program.