Current Commentary Twin Goals: Continuing Professional Development and Improved Patient Care Report of an ACOG District I Retreat Focused on the Future of Obstetrics and Gynecology Robert L. Barbieri, MD, Michael Tesoro, MD, and Fredric D. Frigoletto Jr, MD On April 8 and 9, 2006, District I of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) held a retreat to assess the future of the specialty. The retreat leaders were Dr. Fredric D. Frigoletto Jr, MD, and Dr. Michael Tesoro, MD. Dozens of issues were identified, analyzed, and prioritized for action. The participants identified the twin goals of continuing professional development and improved patient care as critical and central to the healthy evolution of the specialty. The participants also identified nine major issues that greatly influence our ability to realize these twin goals. The nine issues include 1) ensuring career lon- gevity, 2) balancing family life and work life, 3) optimizing residency training and medical student recruitment, 4) developing the careers of a cadre of physician-scientists, 5) enhancing com- petency-based continuing professional education, 6) supporting practice de- velopment, 7) improving patient safety, 8) securing patient access to care, and 9) advancing our legislative agenda, in- cluding tort reform. The retreat leaders identified the need for the specialty to develop a “road map” to constructively address these key issues. (Obstet Gynecol 2007;109:435–40) I n April 2006, Section and District leaders from the American Col- lege of Obstetricians and Gynecolo- gists (ACOG) District I participated in a retreat to stimulate discussion and propose actions that would best advance the field of obstetrics and gynecology. The retreat was con- vened by the ACOG District I Chair, Michael Tesoro, MD, to focus on critical issues that are currently influencing the health and evolution of the specialty. Dr. Fredric Frigo- letto developed the structure and program for the retreat. Four teams, each composed of 16 ACOG District I Fellow and Junior Fellow leaders, including Section Chairs and Vice Chairs, identified evolving issues in obstetrics and gynecology and rec- ommended actions that would en- hance the specialty. Each team had a discussion leader and a reporter who took notes on the discussion. To or- ganize the discussion, each team was asked to explore issues that had been identified by the retreat leaders as areas of concern. These areas of con- cern included 1) career longevity and burnout, 2) advancing profes- sional education, 3) purpose and goals of the District Advisory Coun- cil, including the role of the District in attracting medical students to the specialty and the role of Sections within the District, and 4) impact of profession liability challenges includ- ing the development of part-time op- portunities and the future of our leg- islative agenda and tort reform. Each team identified dozens of issues that were then analyzed and prioritized for action. In the closing plenary session, which involved all retreat participants, each team presented a summary of their discussions, identi- fying key issues and recommended future actions. After the retreat, the team leaders met by teleconference to discuss the major findings of the retreat. This report is a summary of those findings. The participants identified the twin goals of continuing profes- sional development and improved patient care as critical and central to the healthy evolution of the spe- cialty. Nine major issues were iden- tified that greatly influence our ability to achieve these twin goals (Fig. 1). These top issues included 1) ensuring career longevity, 2) bal- ancing family life and work life, 3) From the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; De- partment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut; and Vincent Memorial Obstetrics/Gynecology Depart- ment, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Med- ical School, Boston, Massachusetts. The authors thank the members of the ACOG District I Advisory Council for their contributions and invited guests who participated in the April 2006 retreat. Corresponding author: Robert L. Barbieri, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail: rbarbieri@partners.org. © 2007 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISSN: 0029-7844/07 VOL. 109, NO. 2, PART 1, FEBRUARY 2007 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY 435