Comprehensive Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Training in Boston
Fellows at Tufts Medicine gain comprehensive, hands-on experience across multiple clinical settings, including Tufts Medical Center, MelroseWakefield Hospital and Lowell General Hospital. Training combines high-acuity tertiary care with community-based practice to provide exposure to a wide variety of cases and patient populations.
Clinical training
Fellows provide direct patient care in a variety of clinical settings at Tufts Medical Center, MelroseWakefield Hospital and Lowell General Hospital. Clinical training emphasizes surgical, inpatient and outpatient care.
- Ambulatory gynecologic oncology clinics: Fellows provide initial consultations for patients with suspected or newly diagnosed gynecologic cancers. They administer chemotherapy and targeted therapies alongside faculty in outpatient infusion centers.
- Inpatient service: Fellows lead rounds, oversee all patient care with residents and provide gynecologic oncology consultations for other services.
- Operating rooms: Fellows learn the full scope of open and minimally invasive procedures, including radical hysterectomy, ovarian cancer debulking with HIPEC, bowel and upper abdominal surgery, and inguinal, pelvic, and paraaortic lymph node dissections.
- Additional clinical experience: Rotations in critical care, surgical oncology, colorectal surgery, pathology, palliative care, genetics and radiation oncology.
Rotations + schedules
Fellows rotate across multiple sites and services to gain broad experience.
- Tufts Medical Center: Primary site for the 1st and 3rd years. Time is split between the OR, outpatient clinics, and managing the inpatient service.
- Lowell General Hospital Cancer Center and Tufts Medicine Cancer Center at Stoneham: 1st-year rotation (2 months) and 3rd-year rotation (3 months).
- Radiation oncology: Fellows participate in consultations, simulations and treatments for gynecologic cancer patients.
- Palliative care: Two-week rotation with the inpatient palliative care service during the first year.
- Genetics: Two-week outpatient genetics rotation during the first year.
- Surgical intensive care: Four-week SICU rotation during the first year.
- Colorectal surgery and surgical oncology: Rotations during the third year.
Call schedule
Fellows take both weekday and weekend call to support clinical coverage.
- Weekend call: Assigned 1:3 throughout all three years.
- Weekday call: Assigned 1:2 weeks during clinical years only.
Conferences + didactics
Fellows participate in structured learning activities weekly and monthly to support clinical knowledge, research and wellness.
Weekly conferences:
- Gynecologic Oncology Morning Report (daily)
- Gynecologic Oncology Tumor Board
- OBGYN Grand Rounds
- Cancer Center Grand Rounds (optional)
Monthly conferences:
- Division Research Meeting
- Psychosocial Rounds: Fellows will have the opportunity to meet with a therapist in the evening at a time chosen by fellows to process their experiences
- Cancer Center Molecular Tumor Board (optional)
Gynecologic Oncology Didactics (Fridays 1:00-3:00 pm):
- Pathology Conference: Gynecologic pathologists review surgical cases with fellows
- Always Wanting to Improve: Morbidity & Mortality-style conference emphasizing learning, quality improvement and self-evaluation
- Resilience Club: Fellows, faculty and staff meet monthly to share best practices for wellness and resilience; sessions led by individual fellows or staff under the fellowship director
- Research Curriculum and Journal Club: Interactive sessions to build research skills and critical appraisal of scientific literature
- Chemotherapy Case Conference: Review of active chemotherapy patients and plans with NPs and MDs
- Gyn Onc Core Curriculum: Lectures and case-based learning to prepare fellows for gynecologic oncology boards
Research
The second year of the fellowship is dedicated to research. Fellows can choose to work in a basic science lab or focus on clinical research with the goal of developing a thesis that aligns with their interests. Fellows have opportunities to collaborate with experts across Tufts Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine.
Mentorship is a cornerstone of the program. Every fellow is paired with a dedicated research mentor who provides guidance throughout the fellowship. By the end of January in the first year, fellows select a research project and mentor so they can start their work at the beginning of the second year. Mentors continue to provide support and direction through the remainder of the fellowship.
Areas of research expertise at Tufts Medicine include:
- Translational research on HPV-host interaction and cervical cancer prevention
- Cost effectiveness, implementation science and qualitative research
- Multidisciplinary research to reduce inequities and improve outcomes in women’s health
- Health services and outcomes research
- Clinical trials
