Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program

• The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers a fully ACGME accredited training program in obstetrics and gynecology.
• There are seven house officers in each year of the four years of clinical training.
• We anticipate that each of the house officers who originally match to our program will complete the program, however, the progression from year to year is dependent upon satisfactory evidence of academic and professional achievement.
• Each house officer must complete a total of four years of training to be eligible for examinations leading to certification by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 
• Our department participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) for seven PGY-I positions.
• All applications must be submitted electronically through ERAS. The electronic application includes an application form, medical school transcript, Dean's letter, personal statement and letters of recommendation. We require at least three letters of recommendation (two should be from OB/GYN faculty members). USMLE scores should also be submitted electronically through ERAS.
  • We support the use of a Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) format, and encourage students to submit a SLOE as one of their letters of recommendation.
• Applications from foreign medical graduates must be accompanied by an "Applicant Evaluation Status Letter" from the Medical Board of California approving your eligibility for training and documentation of visa status. Foreign applicants must have a J-1 Visa Type.
• In accordance with APGO/CREOG recommendations:
  • Our application submission deadline is October 1, 2023.
  • Initial Interview offers will go out on October 24, 2023.
  • Our number of interview invitations are limited to the number of interview slots available.
  • Applicants who receive an invitation for an interview will have 48 hours to respond. Slots are based on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Release final status to applicants (interview, reject, waitlist) no later than December 2, 2023.
  • All Interviews will be conducted virtually.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, in previous years, only about one in five applicants has been offered an interview. 

Once selected for an interview, we will do our best to accommodate requests for interview dates. We accommodate requests on a first-come, first-served basis.

We will interview for seven PGY-1 positions to start the 2024 - 2025 academic year.

 The interview dates are as follows (all Fridays):

• November 3, 2023
• November 17, 2023
• December 1, 2023
• December 15, 2023
• January 12, 2024

All interviews will be conducted virtually on the Thalamus platform

On his/her interview date, each applicant will sign up for either a morning (AM) or an afternoon (PM) session.  All times listed are in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Schedule

For all applicants (AM and PM), the following are OPTIONAL:

• Approximately 7-9 p.m. on Thursday evening prior to the interview date, there will be an informal meet-and-greet with the residents via Zoom
• 7:30 – 9 AM - resident case presentations and Departmental Grand Rounds

For applicants interviewing in the AM session:

• 9-10 AM – Introductions, Program Overview
• 10 AM – 12:30 PM – Individual interviews
• 12:30 – 1 PM – Wrap-up and questions

For applicants interviewing in the PM session:

• 2:00 – 3:00 PM PST – Introductions, Program Overview
• 3:00 – 5:30 PM PST – Individual interviews
• 5:30 – 6:00 PM PST – Wrap-up and questions

Each applicant will be interviewed by two faculty members (25 minutes each), three residents (13 minutes each) and the Program Director (13 minutes).  Each applicant will also have two fifteen-minute breaks.  

A virtual tour, as well as UCI GME and UCI OB/GYN Residency Program overview videos, will be made available via Thalamus and can be viewed any time prior to, on breaks during, and/or after the interview date.

Our recruitment and selection process starts with holistic application review, and is designed to help us match applicants who will become thriving members of our UC Irvine OB/GYN Residency Program family. Our residents each bring their unique backgrounds and interests to bear in pursuing our department’s mission of “Discover, Teach, Heal, Serve” with passion and perseverance.

Applications are considered as a body of work, with focus on depth and quality, rather than quantity, of projects and on clinical performance and evaluations. There is no minimum USMLE score required to apply, and recently matched applicants have scored in a very wide range.

While it is certainly not required, we love for applicants considering our program to visit us for an elective rotation, which we offer via VSAS in maternal fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, family planning, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery and outpatient OB/GYN (“GYN Walk-in”). 

In each of the past four years, two or four of our seven residents (including those from UC Irvine School of Medicine) have done sub-internships with us prior to matching here.

Class of 2024

Melissa Chambers, MD – St. Louis University School of Medicine

Danielle Greenberg, MD - David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Helena Hong, MD – Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Ann Nguyen Pham, MD – St. Louis University School of Medicine

Toni Okuyemi, MD – University of Minnesota Medical School

Patrick Penalosa, MD – University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

Joris Ramstein, MD – University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

Class of 2025

Eloho Akpovi, MD - The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Elizabeth Crawford, MD - University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

Shebani Dandekar, MD - California Northstate University

Alyssa Gonzalez, MD - The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Kristen Hardy, MD – West Virginia University School of Medicine - Charleston

Justine Maher, MD - University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

Class of 2026

Clare-Marie Anderson, MD - University of Hawaii

Anna Cornelius-Schecter, MD – Weill Cornell Medicine

Courtney Fant, MD - University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Brittany File, MD – Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

Christina Frasik, MD – Albany Medical College

Eliana Garcia, MD - University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Samantha Solaru, MD – Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Class of 2027

Katherine Bogaard, MD - University of California Irvine, School of Medicine

Kate Corry-Saavedra, MD - University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine

Rocio Garcia Quinteros, MD - University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine

Seungho Lee, MD – University of Central Florida College of Medicine

Alesandra Rau, MD - Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Delaney Sztraicher, MD – Robert Larner, MD., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont

Shahnaz Vellani, MD - The University of Toledo College of Medicine

First Year

The first year of training is exclusively at UC Irvine Medical Center. It includes the following rotations, dividing the year into 14 blocks of approximately three and a half weeks each:

• Labor and Delivery Days — 2 blocks
• Labor and Delivery Nights — 2 blocks
• FHC-SA (primarily OB/GYN ambulatory urgent care) — 2 blocks
• GynOnc — 2 blocks
• Gynecology (inpatient and ED) — 2 blocks
• Ambulatory (primarily specialty outpatient clinics) — 2 blocks
• REI — 1 block, first half of the year
• GYN Night Float — 1 block, second half of the year

Second Year

Eight blocks of the second year of training is spent at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, with the remaining six blocks at UC Irvine Medical Center.

• Long Beach Labor and Delivery days — 2 blocks
• Long Beach Labor and Delivery nights — 2 blocks
• Long Beach Women’s Perinatal Group (MFM) — 2 blocks
• Long Beach Gyn Onc — 2 blocks
• FPMRS (Urogyn) — 2 blocks
• UCI Antepartum/MFM — 2 blocks
• GYN Night Float — 1 block, first half of the year
• Family Planning — 1 block, second half of the year

Third Year

The third year adds in the high-volume GYN surgery experience of a Kaiser Permanente rotation and includes a call-free elective block that can be used to achieve any educational goal desired by the resident:

• Kaiser Permanente Orange County GYN — 2 blocks
• UCI Labor and Delivery Nights — 2 blocks
• UCI Gyn Onc — 2 blocks
• Long Beach Gynecology (inpatient, outpatient + ED — 2 blocks
• FHC-SA Clinic Chief — 2 blocks
• REI/GYN Float (emergency fatigue/sick coverage and OR float) — 2 blocks
• Family Planning — 1 block, first half of the year
• Elective — 1 block, second half of the year

Fourth Year

The fourth year of training gives the chief resident a large amount of decision-making responsibilities. The fourth-year resident runs all of the different services at UC Irvine Medical Center and the resident services at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, including outpatient clinics and inpatient obstetrics, gynecology and gynecologic oncology.  

They also spend two months at Kaiser Anaheim, which is a Gyn rotation with an excellent volume of minimally invasive procedures.

• Kaiser Permanente Orange County GYN — 2 blocks
• UCI Labor and Delivery chief — 2 blocks
• UCI Gyn Onc chief — 2 blocks
• UCI Gynecology chief — 2 blocks
• LB OB chief — 2 blocks
• LB GYN chief — 2 months
• Jeopardy (provides interview, conference, vacation coverage) — 2 months

All residents have their own continuity clinics at our affiliated FQHC clinic in Santa Ana.

Weekend L&D and ED call at UCI and LB are shared amongst the more junior classes, with the 4^th year residents providing back-up call from home. 

Residents rotating at Kaiser take in-house OB call at Kaiser while on those rotations.

Each class has four hours of protected teaching time or administrative time on Fridays. 

The curriculum encompasses a wide range of domains, including medical knowledge, technical skills labs, simulations, research, quality improvement, interpersonal communication skills, wellness, teaching and professionalism.  

The UCI OB/GYN Residency Program is committed to maintaining compliance with the ACGME Program requirements, including clinical experience and education hour restrictions. These requirements include:

• Residents must not work more than 80 hours per week, averaged over four weeks or one block, whichever is shorter
• Residents must have at least one continuous 24 hour period free of clinical responsibilities each week, averaged over four weeks or one block, whichever is shorter
• Residents may not work more than 24 consecutive hours in-house, exclusive of post-call handoffs
• Residents should have at least eight hours off between in-house shifts (or 14 hours after a 24-hour call)

Class of 2023

• Lindsay Burton, MD – Academic Practice, University of California, Irvine & Staff OBGYN, OC Jails
• Emily Du, MD – Academic Practice, Providence St. Jude Heritage Medical Group, Fullerton CA
• Melissa Lopez, MD – Academic Practice, University of California, Irvine
• Devesh Naidoo, MD – Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, University of California, Irvine
• Desiree Nguyen, MD – Academic Practice, LA County Dept of Health Services / UCLA
• Priya Patel, MD – Academic Practice, Kaiser South Bay
• Lauren Witchey, MD – Academic Practice, Memorial Care Group and Long Beach Memorial

Class of 2022

• Alyssa Christine Bujnak, MD - Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, University of California, Irvine
• Marie-Claire Leaf, MD - Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship, John Hopkins
• Ariana Liz Melendez, MD – Academic Practice, University of California, San Diego
• Griselda Arlene Reyes, MD - Academic Practice, Memorial Care Group and Long Beach Memorial
• Jamie Lynne Miller, MD – Private Practice in Laguna Hills, California
• Luke Robert Schmidt, MD – Private Practice in Maryland
• Alice Sherman-Brown, MD - Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, University of California, Irvine

Class of 2021

• Carly Crowder, MD – FPMRS Fellowship, UCI
• Marielle Meurice, MD – Family Planning Fellowship, UCSD
• Bianca Rivas, MD – Private Practice, Torrance, CA
• Dana Senderoff, MD – Memorial Care, Long Beach, CA
• Joyce Sutedja, MD – Academic Practice, LA County Dept of Health Services / UCLA
• Paul Wadensweiler, MD – FPMRS Fellowship, Dartmouth, NH
• Blake Zwerling, MD – Family Planning Fellowship, Johns Hopkins

Class of 2020

• Bradley Bosse, MD — MFM Fellowship, University of Wisconsin
• Nisha Garg, MD — MIGS Fellowship, Northwestern University
• Cariza Mercurio, MD — Private Practice, Whittier, CA
• Rachel Newman, MD, MBA — MFM Fellowship, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Melissa Perez, MD, MPH — Kaiser Permanente, San Leandro, CA
• Marisa Liu, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UCI
• Virginia Tancioco, MD, MBA — Family Planning Fellowship, Boston University

Class of 2019

• Adam Crosland, MD – MFM Fellowship, UCI
• Megan Oakes, MD – MFM Fellowship, Washington University St. Louis
• Lauren Yu, MD – OB Hospitalist Fellowship, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC
• Katherine Coakley, MD – Academic practice, UCI; Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship - UCSD
• Catherine Gordon, MD – REI Fellowship, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Nina Hooshvar, MD – Private Practice, Whittier, CA
• Tasha Serna-Gallegos, MD – FPMRS Fellowship, University of New Mexico

Class of 2018

• Briana Livingston, MD – Memorial Care Medical Group, Long Beach, CA
• Sarah Paraghamian, MD – Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, University of N. Carolina
• Rebecca Simon-Freeman, MD -  MFM Fellowship, University of Washington
• Brandon Sawyer, MD - Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, University of Colorado
• Kiran Clair, MD - Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UCI
• Shelly Dutt, MD – Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA
• Deborah Karm, MD - Memorial Care Medical Group, Long Beach, CA

Class of 2017

• Jadadi Bignami, MD — Private Practice, Orange, CA
• Jennifer Duffy, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Christopher LaFargue, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, MD Anderson, TX
• Melinda Marshall, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, CA
• Jamie Patterson, MD — Academic Practice, UC Irvine, Breast Surgery Fellowship, USC
• Marcie Rome, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Denver, CO
• Jonathan Steller, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, University of Colorado

Class of 2016

• Elizabeth Bonagura, MD — Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship, University of Louisville
• Revana Lukman, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii
• Jennifer, Neeper, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA
• Jessica Sisto, MD — MIGS Fellowship, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 
• Elizabeth West, MD — Private Practice, Long Beach, CA
• Melissa Westermann, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Juliet Wolford, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UC Irvine

Class of 2015

• James Cripe, MD — MIGS Fellowship,  Fox Chase Cancer Center, PA
• Melissa Hodeib, DO — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UCLA
• Robert Johnston, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Beverly Long, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, Mayo Clinic, MN
• Sarah Lovell, MD — OB/GYN Hospitailst Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Allison Serra, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, Magee Women’s/Univ of Pittsburgh

Class of 2014

• Taylor Brueseke, MD — Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Cindy Chau, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Kristina Eaton, MD — Private Practice, Alaska
• Teresa Codini Longoria, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Kerry Price, MD — Private Practice, Saddleback, CA
• Erica Wu, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine/Genetics Combined Fellowship,UC Irvine

Class of 2013

• Nora Bassiouni, MD — MIGS Fellowship, University of Arizona
• Justin Diedrich, MD — Family Planning Fellowship, Washington University, St. Louis
• Cristina Gioioso, MD — Private Practice, Orange County, CA
• Freya Elena Marshall, MD — Private Practice, Torrance, CA
• Natalie Moniaga, MD — Private Practice, Pasadena, CA
• Jeanna Park, MD — Global Health Fellowship, University of Chicago

Class of 2012 

• Carol Chiu, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Portland, OR 
• Allyson Pace Davis, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Downey, CA
• Steven Samawi, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Salem, OR
• Laura Sech, MD — Family Planning Fellowship, USC
• Megan Stephenson, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship UC Irvine
• Morgan Swank, MD — Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UC Irvine

Class of 2011 

• Amanda Gorman, MD — Private Practice, Rochester, NY
• Brooke Hargrove, MD — Private Practice, Newport Beach, CA 
• Leslie Hsu, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA 
• Sara Kaplan Irwin, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Portland, OR
• Heidi Kraus, MD — Private Practice, Newport Beach, CA
• Raquel Pelayo, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA

Class of 2010

• Marli Amin, MD — REI Fellowship, UCLA
• Lisa Blair, MD — Private Practice, Scottsdale, AZ
• Rosanne Bravo, MD — Private Practice, Fresno, CA
• Laura Fitzmaurice, MD — Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA
• Sara Meltzer Jordan, MD — Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, UC Irvine
• Jennifer Salcedo, MD — Family Planning Fellowship, UCLA