Nation’s Ob-Gyns Gather in Tennessee to Improve the Full Spectrum of Women’s Health Care

Nashville, TN — Nearly 6,000 women’s health care providers and researchers are gathered today in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Music City Center for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) 67th Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting. This year’s meeting theme is Accessing the Spectrum of Quality Health Care. The program offers attendees a diverse range of learning opportunities and topics that address barriers to access in women’s health care and successful approaches to overcoming them.

“The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for ob-gyns to participate in an exchange of knowledge and information that should empower us to return home with innovative ideas that effect positive changes in our workplaces, governing bodies, and educational institutions,” said ACOG President Lisa Hollier, M.D., M.P.H. 

Hollier will open the meeting on Friday with the President’s Panel, titled Maternal Mortality: Progress toward Prevention. She will be joined by three other leaders in the fight against maternal mortality: Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts; Mary-Ann Etiebet, M.D., executive director of the Merck for Mothers campaign; and Rebekah Gee, M.D., M.P.H., secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. The focus on preventable maternal deaths stems from Hollier’s presidential initiatives, which have defined her tenure as ACOG president.

Each day attendees will have the opportunity to attend a variety of sessions in different learning environments, such as lectures, talks in classroom settings, and debates, that are all tailored to their professional interests and priorities. ACOG has collaborated with 10 subspecialty societies to ensure that the sessions target specialties within obstetrics and gynecology and review new trends that ob-gyns should know.

Every year ACOG introduces new learning models at the Annual Meeting. This year will feature a new talk series format called EdTalks, which will give attendees the opportunity to hear three experts speak for 10 minutes each, consecutively, on one topic in obstetrics and gynecology. New hands-on learning experiences have also been added, including a new game called Escape the Womb, during which groups will have to solve puzzles and quizzes about women’s health care to “escape” the game and win.

“Not only can we receive education on the issues we’re passionate about,” said Hollier, “but the meeting also offers a unique chance to explore exciting new topics that we might not otherwise have the time or opportunity to consider or learn about during our daily routines. Every year we leave with more knowledge, fulfilling professional connections, and renewed enthusiasm to guide our care of women.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women. As a private, voluntary, nonprofit membership organization of more than 58,000 members, ACOG strongly advocates for quality health care for women, maintains the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education of its members, promotes patient education, and increases awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women’s health care. www.acog.org