Duluth Clinic Fellowship

Finding physicians to perform obstetric procedures like Caesarean sections has become a mounting challenge for rural-based clinics.

To address the issue head-on, the Duluth Clinic has launched a one-year obstetric fellowship for family medicine physicians who plan to practice in rural areas. It is one of only five such fellowship programs offered in the Midwest.

Brielle Loe, MD, became the first Duluth Clinic Obstetrics/Procedural Medicine Fellow after completing her family medicine residency at the Duluth Family Practice Center in June. An Ely native, Dr. Loe practices at the Duluth Clinic-Ely.

Doctors deliver about 45 babies a year in Ely, about 10 of them Caesareans, said Joe Bianco, MD, a family medicine physician at the Duluth Clinic-Ely. The town has two family medicine physicians and a general surgeon who perform C-sections but one family doctor is taking on an increased administrative load and the other is retiring.

“We wanted to keep OB in the town,” Dr. Loe said.

Only about 23 percent of physicians coming out of family medicine residencies do obstetrics, Dr. Bianco said. Although the fellowship won’t fill all current and future needs, it will make a dent.

With only five other obstetric fellowships in the Midwest available for family physicians there’s little opportunity for advanced obstetric training, according to James Koberstein, MD, director of the fellowship program.

Dr. Loe will become experienced at Caesarean deliveries, ultrasound and gynecological procedures. She also will receive additional training in other specialties, including emergency medicine.

Impetus for the fellowship came from regional physicians and Carl Heltne, MD, Chief Medical Officer of SMDC. Thomas Elliott, MD, SMDC’s Chief of Education and Research, directed the fellowship planning committee.