Hard Sell on Tap for Ob.Gyn. Residency Programs.

The 3-year dip in the number of graduating medical students going into ob.gyn. appears to be stabilizing, but education experts are still on tenterhooks about the dwindling numbers of new residents in the specialty.

Throughout the early to mid-1990's at least 96% of ob.gyn. residency slots were filled. But by 1999, only 93% of the slots were filled, followed by 92% both last year and this year. The percentage of U.S. medical school graduates choosing ob.gyn. hovers at 6.7%, down from a high of 8% in 1992.

And while it's tough to say to what degree the decreases are due to a shrinking pool of male applicants or lifestyle issues that may turn young people off to medicine in general and ob.gyn. in particular, some ob.gyns. have decided that they're not going to wait for the numbers to decline further before they start aggressively pitching the specialty.

Soon medical schools across the country will be receiving a video aimed at attracting first and second-year medical students to ob.gyn. The idea is that by the third year, when most medical students are routinely exposed to ob.gyn.-oriented curricula, many students have already made up their minds about the specialty, said Dr. Gerald B. Holzman, director of education at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The 26-minute video, which was funded with $50,000 in grants from ACOG and the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, is designed to address questions and combat stereotypes that medical students may have about the field. The video demonstrates the range of women's health care issues that ob.gyns. manage, said William P. Metheny, Ph.D., professor of ob.gyn. at Brown University and also of Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Providence.

Residency programs are also trying to spruce up their recruitment efforts.

Brown University spent $10,000 to produce a video that this year's candidates received after they were invited for an interview. The 10-minute video briefly covers resident life within the hospital walls, but much of the footage features an alluring collage of the sun-dappled streets of Providence, families splashing along the shore, sailboats, and fall foliage.