Prisma Health-University of South Carolina SOM Columbia Columbia Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a small, community-based, university-affiliated OB/GYN program (four residents per year) built around a Regional Perinatal Center that draws maternal-fetal transports from 16 counties and 20+ hospitals, giving residents high-volume, high-risk obstetrics with graduated autonomy under a laborist faculty model and no competing fellows. As a Ryan Residency Program, it has an early and structured family planning curriculum alongside dedicated pediatric-adolescent gynecology and colposcopy/vulvar disorders clinics, and it emphasizes resident-performed obstetric ultrasound from intern year onward. Research is faculty-mentored and required for third-year presentation, supported by a dedicated Women's Health Research coordinator and forum, but the program's stated identity centers more on full-scope clinical readiness and legislative/policy advocacy (testifying before state committees) than on academic productivity. The program explicitly prepares residents for either full-scope private practice, academic careers, or fellowship (MFM, complex family planning, pediatric-adolescent gynecology), valuing well-rounded clinical competence, community engagement, and patient advocacy over subspecialization alone.