Baby, baby: obstetric training as a way to improve family medicine resident recruiting in Rockford, Illinois
UIC Rockford's Family Medicine Residency is using advanced obstetric training to attract residents and prepare family physicians for rural practice. The STRETCH-OB track integrates high-risk obstetrics and C-section training into family medicine residency so graduates can serve communities where maternity care access is fragile.
Episode Summary
This episode explores how UIC Rockford's Family Medicine Residency uses obstetric training as both a recruitment strategy and a rural workforce solution. Dr. Karen Lael describes the program's full-scope family medicine model, unopposed training environment, high delivery volume, and STRETCH-OB track, which integrates advanced obstetrics and surgical obstetrics into the standard three-year family medicine residency. The conversation highlights why rural communities need family physicians who can provide maternity care, how training can replace the need for a separate OB fellowship, and how one graduate returned to rural Canada with extensive vaginal delivery and C-section experience.
People Mentioned
About the Guest
Dr. Karen Lael
Associate Program Director, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford Family Medicine Residency
Dr. Karen Lael serves as an associate program director with the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford Family Medicine Residency. In this conversation, she discusses full-scope family medicine training, the STRETCH-OB pathway, and the role advanced obstetrics training can play in building a rural maternal health workforce.