A New Divison Is Added to the Department of OB-GYN: Adolescent Gynecology

The department of OB-GYN has expanded its academic reach to include a new division of pediatric and adolescent gynecology. The division is directed by Lesley Breech, MD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and surgery at UC and chief of pediatric and adolescent gynecology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

"I have to give credit to the department of OB-GYN for being so forward thinking in establishing this division. … There is increased recognition of the need for pediatric and adolescent gynecology as part of obstetric s training,” Breech says of how the division creates opportunities here that are only available at a handful of medical colleges in the country.

Not only will UC medical students be introduced to the field of pediatric and adolescent gynecology in their rotations, Breech says, but the division—which includes faculty members Leslie Ayensu-Coker, MD,  and Jill Huppert, MD—also offers specialized training for  both OB/GYN and pediatric residents  and a two-year fellowship position for residents who have completed an OB/GGYN residency. The clinical services arm of the division sees patients at Cincinnati Children’s, where a pediatric and adolescent gynecology program has been in existence for over 20 years.  

Specializing in pediatric and adolescent gynecology is often a foreign concept because gynecology is usually associated with adult females, Breech says. There are many instances, however, where young girls need gynecological services:  trauma to the reproductive system due to accident, birth defects that affect reproductive development and medical conditions and disease states that may affect future reproductive potential.   

Lesley Breech, MD, earned her medical degree from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and is specially trained in pelvic reconstruction and other medical and surgical management of genital anomalies. She has eleven years of experience teaching surgical and medical gynecology at Emory University and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and has a special interest in the care of girls and young women with developmental abnormalities of  the reproductive tract. In 2004, she joined the multidisciplinary care provided by the Center for Pediatric Pelvic and Genitourinary Reconstruction, now called the Urogenital Center, at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She also provides gynecologic care for young women with bleeding disorders, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis and other gynecologic concerns of pediatric and adolescent females.

To make an appointment with a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist, call (513) 636-9400.

*This story was originally published in the Aug. 2011 edition of Connected.