The resident and fellow relationship in obstetrics and gynecology.

In a nationwide survey, chief administrative residents reported their views on how subspecialty fellowships affect their residency training in obstetrics and gynecology. The residents felt that fellows improve the quality of their training, depending on the degree they consider fellows as junior faculty involved in teaching and modeling patient care. Competition for surgical cases, and the surgical priority fellows have over residents in the new technology and nonroutine cases, potentially detract from the resident-fellow training relationship. These factors varied by subspecialty and the particular content areas of the fellowship. The residents' comments highlight the positive and negative components of each fellowship and identify the features of their relationship with the fellows. The implications of these findings for enhancing this relationship are presented.