The curriculum of the Complex Family Planning Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai includes clinical training, training in education, research, and advocacy. Fellows are actively mentored by our program leadership and core faculty throughout their two years. Our fellowship is certified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Meet Our Leadership and Faculty
Under the leadership of Monica Dragoman, MD, MPH, the core faculty for the Complex Family Planning Fellowship program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai contribute to multidimensional aspects of fellows’ training.
Monica Dragoman, MD, MPH, System Director for Complex Family Planning and Fellowship Director
Ann Frisse, MD, MPH
Laura MacIsaac, MD, MPH, Associate Program Director and Site Director for Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Adam Jacobs, MD, Site Director for The Mount Sinai Hospital
Annie Frisse, MD, MPH, Site Director for Mount Sinai West/Mount Sinai Morningside
Rachel Masch, MD, MPH
Ariella Goldman, MD, MPH
Clinical Training
Fellows train in surgical and medication abortion, management of failed and abnormal pregnancy, contraception, and sterilization with the complex family planning faculty.
Our fellows train to provide surgical abortion through 24 weeks gestation in locations throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.
In collaboration with the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, fellows train to provide D&E and medical abortion (labor induction) up to 26 weeks gestation for pregnancies complicated by fetal anomalies and maternal indications.
Mount Sinai offers all FDA-approved contraceptive options, including post-abortion long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) initiation. Fellows train with complex family planning faculty in a dedicated contraception clinic at Mount Sinai specializing in LARC placement and contraception for medically complicated patients.
With the education and experience from the Complex Family Planning Fellowship, our fellows are well trained to practice independently and confidently across a variety of contexts. They leave well-equipped to lead evidence-based, patient-centered clinical care and skillfully perform advanced procedures safely and effectively.
Training in Education
Our fellows develop and strengthen their skills as medical educators. They periodically lead didactics and journal clubs with core faculty, peers, residents and medical students as well as provide clinical instruction to residents and medical students in the clinics and operating rooms. At the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, fellows train Pediatric Adolescent Health fellows in LARC provision.
Research
Fellows design and execute a research project of their choice with mentorship from our leadership and other core faculty. They are supported throughout the process to design, implement, analyze, and disseminate their research. Fellows and their mentors meet regularly to assess study progress, troubleshoot, and ensure accountability. Fellows also have access to expertise beyond the division and may conduct research in collaboration with another member of the Mount Sinai network faculty in partnership with core complex family planning faculty. Pending project approval, research may be conducted on a wide range of topics, including abortion, contraception, adolescent health, sexuality education, and global health. Fellows have protected time for research and are expected to complete a thesis requirement for graduation. We have a designated research coordinator, departmental biostatisticians, and our Vice Chair of Research, Dr. Siobhan Dolan, who also provide key research support.
Additional Opportunities
We offer additional opportunities in advocacy, policy, and service, didactics, collaboration, and mentorship.
Advocacy, Policy, and Service
Our location within New York City offers many opportunities for advocacy, policy, and service work. Fellows are encouraged to pursue their interests in these areas.
Current and past fellows’ advocacy, policy, and service work has included:
- Physicians for Reproductive Health Leadership Training Academy
- ACOG Congressional Leadership Conference
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene lecture series on contraception to school-based health center providers
- Icahn School Medical Students For Choice program panelists
- Lectures to Planned Parenthood Advanced Practice Clinicians
Didactics
Fellows attend and occasionally present at weekly complex family planning didactics with other members of The Mount Sinai Hospital Division of Complex Family Planning, including the fellowship directors, the division director, and any residents and medical students on rotation with complex family planning. These meetings include journal club, chapter review, and medical guidelines review. Fellows attend weekly departmental morbidity and mortality conferences and grand rounds.
Fellows also have the opportunity to attend and present at the periodic Physicians for Reproductive Health Family Planning Grand Rounds. These lectures, conducted several times annually, are attended by faculty, fellows, residents and students as well as researchers and activists from a variety of New York City Family Planning programs and institutes.
Collaborations
The Complex Family Planning fellows have the opportunity to collaborate with other divisions within the Department of OBGYN and with other clinical departments within the Icahn School of Medicine. The Complex Family Planning faculty collaborates with the following divisions and departments on clinical care, research, and training of residents, fellows, and medical students: Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Global Health, Department of Pediatrics - Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Medicine - Immunology Institute, and Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
Our location in New York City gives fellows geographic access to many national organizations dedicated to family planning. These include Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Gynuity Health Projects, Physicians for Reproductive Health, the Population Council, Global Doctors for Choice, and the Guttmacher Institute. Fellows may have the opportunity for collaboration with and exposure to the family planning research and advocacy conducted by these organizations, depending on the fellow’s areas of interest and the ongoing activities at these organizations.