Welcome. We’re glad you’re here.

I love these patients, and I love the work that we do in this specialty. My goal for you is that you leave this rotation with a deeper understanding of what we have to offer urogynecology patients and an appreciation for the ways that we can help them improve their lives through education, medication and operation. - Ryan Stewart

The yellow brick road

One of the goals of all junior resident subspecialty rotations is to provide you with early exposure to the subspecialty. Early exposure increases the chances of a fellowship match and gives us the opportunity to develop a plan should this be the path you choose. The following sections are not critical for the rotation, but may help you get to know me and the specialty a little better. Hopefully they will provide some insight into why I believe so strongly in the work we do.

Why Urogynecology?

For me, the decision to be a urogynecologist was largely based upon a couple of different factors.

First, I knew early in medical school that I was interested in ObGyn based on some prior life/work experience. As I began talking to more ObGyns, during rotations and otherwise, I realized that I preferred post-reproductive female patients. Early fourth year medical school exposure to urogynecology later nudged me in this direction. That affinity for post-reproductive patients was affirmed early in my residency, and so I knew pretty early that the decision would be between gynecologic oncology or urogynecology.

Just as “finding my people” in terms of patients was important, “finding my people” in terms of partners was also important. I understood pretty quickly that urogynecologists we’re just a little more “my people” than gynecologic oncologists – nothing against them (of course) or the work they do. It’s incredible. We’re simply different.

Finally, I knew that my post reproductive female patients needed to be mostly healthy and not sick. So it became an easy decision.

What was your path?

I’m an osteopathic physician who did medical school in southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. I matched at Indiana University for residency and then the University of Louisville for fellowship. There I was trained in all aspects of urogynecologic care including vaginal native tissue repair, laparoscopy, robotics, use of implants (synthetic, autologous, allograft, and xenograft), sacral neuromodulation, intravesical BOTOX and various other treatments.

I spent two years in private practice after leaving fellowship. During that time, I developed an interest in the business of medicine, revenue cycle management, operational efficiency, and EMR (EPIC) optimization.

About this site

Contributing

If you find or think of something that should be on this site that isn’t, send me a text message or email and I’ll get it added ASAP. I want this to be a useful tool for you and your co-residents on and off service.