Your clinical practice at UC Davis Health unfolds within an environment where cutting-edge technology supports excellent patient care, and where the complexity of cases keeps your skills sharp without overwhelming your capacity. The approximately 2,000 annual deliveries reflect a patient volume substantial enough to ensure clinical variety and subspecialty consultation availability, yet manageable enough that you will recognize patients, build relationships with nursing staff, and practice medicine thoughtfully rather than frantically. The Level III NICU designation means when you deliver a 28-week premature infant or manage a complicated twin gestation, you have immediate access to neonatal specialists and state-of-the-art equipment, eliminating the anxiety of practicing at facilities where high-risk deliveries require emergency transfers.
The Epic electronic medical record system unifies your workflow across outpatient clinics, Labor and Delivery, operating rooms, and inpatient units. You will access the same patient chart whether you are seeing someone in continuity clinic, admitting them for labor, or following up postpartum, creating seamless care coordination. Epic's integrated documentation, order entry, and results review reduce the administrative burden compared to fragmented systems. Remote access allows you to review charts, communicate with colleagues, and address patient messages from home, making call coverage more efficient and reducing unnecessary trips to the hospital.
Your days as an Academic Generalist alternate between the measured pace of outpatient gynecology and the dynamic environment of hospital-based care. In clinic, you will see the full spectrum of women's health: routine annual examinations, contraceptive counseling, management of abnormal uterine bleeding, evaluation of pelvic pain, prenatal care from first trimester through delivery, and postpartum follow-up. These continuity relationships distinguish academic generalist practice from hospitalist work, as you follow patients through their reproductive years, manage chronic gynecologic conditions, and celebrate when prenatal patients you have guided through pregnancy deliver healthy babies under your care.
Your daytime hospitalist coverage responsibilities place you on Labor and Delivery during business hours, working collaboratively with UWH faculty to manage the floor. You will triage laboring patients, conduct deliveries, perform cesarean sections, and handle obstetric emergencies alongside residents who rely on your teaching and clinical judgment. This shared coverage model means you never face the isolation of solo practice, and complex cases benefit from multiple faculty perspectives. Between deliveries, you will also cover gynecologic inpatient services, performing surgeries ranging from uncomplicated hysterectomies to more complex procedures requiring your generalist surgical skills.
Your call schedule offers two options based on your lifestyle preferences: two in-house shifts monthly combined with backup home call, or three in-house shifts monthly without home call. In-house shifts mean you are physically present on Labor and Delivery overnight, immediately available for emergencies, deliveries, and surgical cases. The predictability of this schedule lets you plan childcare, personal commitments, and time with family around known obligations. You will also participate in at-home gynecology call rotation with departmental subspecialties, typically responding by phone to triage questions and only coming in for true emergencies requiring immediate intervention.
Your work as an Academic Hospitalist centers entirely on hospital-based obstetric and gynecologic care, where shift-based scheduling creates clear boundaries between clinical time and personal time. When your 12 to 13-hour shift begins, you assume responsibility for all obstetric triage, labor management, deliveries, emergency surgeries, and inpatient consultations during your coverage period. This focused intensity appeals to physicians who prefer immersive clinical blocks rather than scattered outpatient appointments, and who find professional satisfaction in managing acute situations requiring immediate clinical decisions.
Your shifts encompass the full range of inpatient obstetrics: triaging patients presenting with contractions, ruptured membranes, or concerning symptoms; managing active labor from admission through delivery; performing cesarean sections for various indications; conducting emergency procedures such as manual placental removal or repair of obstetric lacerations; providing postpartum care for both vaginal and cesarean deliveries; and evaluating and admitting antepartum patients requiring hospitalization for conditions like preeclampsia, preterm labor, or intrauterine growth restriction. You will also cover emergency room consultations for gynecologic issues, perform urgent gynecologic surgeries, and manage inpatient gynecology cases requiring hospital-level care.
The negotiable shift structure means you design your monthly schedule based on your financial goals and lifestyle preferences. If you prefer primarily day shifts to maintain more typical sleep patterns, that arrangement can be accommodated. If you want to maximize earning potential by working more shifts per month, or reduce clinical time to pursue other interests, both approaches remain possible. The combination of day and night shifts you ultimately work reflects your individual needs rather than a rigid institutional requirement, offering flexibility rare in academic medicine.
Both positions encourage participation in scholarly activities aligned with your interests and career goals. Quality improvement initiatives offer natural entry points into academic work, as you identify opportunities to enhance patient outcomes, streamline clinical workflows, or reduce complications. Publishing case reports or case series documenting interesting clinical presentations requires minimal research infrastructure and can demonstrate scholarly productivity. Curriculum development for medical student or resident education allows you to shape how future physicians learn obstetrics and gynecology. Participation in departmental research projects led by subspecialty faculty offers collaboration opportunities without requiring you to independently secure funding or establish your own research program.
Unlike research-intensive academic positions demanding grant applications and publication quotas, these roles emphasize clinical excellence and educational contributions as primary promotion criteria. You can engage with scholarship at a level that enriches your practice and supports academic advancement without compromising the clinical and teaching work that drew you to these positions. Committee participation, quality metric tracking, educational innovation, and contributions to departmental strategic planning all constitute valued academic service within the UC Davis Health faculty model.
Your clinical work benefits from robust support systems that make medicine more manageable. Experienced Labor and Delivery nurses bring years of expertise to patient care, anticipating needs and communicating effectively with physicians. Certified nurse midwives collaborate on routine deliveries, expanding capacity and allowing physician focus on higher-acuity cases. Anesthesia availability 24/7 means epidural requests receive prompt attention and emergency cases get immediate anesthetic support. Social work services help address psychosocial needs that impact health outcomes. Lactation consultants support breastfeeding mothers. Patient navigators coordinate complex care transitions. These interdisciplinary team members allow you to practice at the top of your license, focusing on medical decision-making and procedural skills while colleagues handle aspects of care within their expertise.
The academic environment creates intellectual stimulation beyond daily clinical work. Grand rounds bring diverse perspectives on challenging cases. Journal clubs discuss recent literature and its clinical applications. Subspecialty lectures expose you to advances in maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, and other focused areas. Regular faculty meetings address clinical operations, quality metrics, and strategic planning. Unlike private practice settings where physicians work in relative isolation, or community hospitals where academic discussions rarely occur, UC Davis Health surrounds you with colleagues committed to learning, teaching, and continuous improvement.
Whether you envision building longitudinal relationships through generalist practice while maintaining hospital-based skills, or focusing intensively on shift-based inpatient care where every day brings new clinical challenges, UC Davis Health provides the clinical environment, support systems, and collegial atmosphere where your skills will stay sharp, your teaching will impact the next generation, and your practice will remain professionally fulfilling throughout your career.