History and development of an integrated model of care for female pelvic medicine and surgery

Abstract

Urologists and gynecologists manage most of the patients with female pelvic floor disorders. However, lack of a single focused approach among these two disciplines and other related fields may hinder advances in clinical care and research. Herein, along with describing the background of birth of the new subspeciality, we present a practical approach by which we established an integrated model of care and discovery for FPFD at our institution. With the recent approval of this subspeciality by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), it is plausible that other institutions would wish to initiate similar steps toward establishment of an integrated model of care for FPFD, and hence move this new subspecialty to its new frontiers.