ORLANDO, Fla. — The newest incoming group of 8 residents at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies is all women.
▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS
“OBGYN is a field treating women,” Dr. Shannon Schellhammer, the OBGYN Residency Program Director at Winnie Palmer, said. “So, by training our next generations of doctors who are all women, and working with their counterparts who are men and women, we’re going to be able to connect with our patients in the community.”
Dr. Schellhammer said the training will provide residents with the skills they need to care for their patients through every step of life.
“From before childbirth, during childbirth, afterwards, menopause, needing a hysterectomy later on, we get to be there for them.”
Dr. Elizabeth Yeske is one of the incoming residents.
Read: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: What we know about the victims
“I think that taking care of women in the most vulnerable aspect of their health is a very privileged area to be able to play a role in,” Dr. Yeske said.
After not matching to an OBGYN program her first year out of medical school she didn’t give up and tried again.
This year, out of 800 applicants, she matched at Winnie Palmer.
She told Channel 9 she looks forward to connecting with her future patients.
Read: ‘Looking to game the system’: DeSantis signs squatting bill in downtown Orlando
“I think that having physicians that look like their patients is so important,” Dr. Yeske said. “I think that being a woman caring for women, being able to sit down and say I understand what you’re feeling, being in a situation like this, it carries a much greater weight.”
Nearly 15,000 babies are delivered every year at Winnie Palmer.
Incoming interns will join the residency program in July. The students will then spend the next four years training and learning under the doctors at Winnie Palmer Hospital.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.