Kim Puterbaugh, MD joins University Hospitals as OBGYN Residency Program Director

UH OBGYN Clinical Update | April 2021

Kim Puterbaugh, MD

In 2020, Kim Puterbaugh, MD joined University Hospitals to lead the Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program. Puterbaugh, a graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has had an extensive career, including 3 years working in Haiti coordinating maternal child health initiatives and more recently moving from Wisconsin to Cleveland to work as an OB Hospitalist. Dr. Puterbaugh is also President Elect for the Society of OB/GYN Hospitalists. Her new role as Residency Program Director is a role she is particularly excited to take on allowing her the opportunity to shape the next generation of OB/GYN providers.

“University Hospitals’ OB/GYN Residency program focuses on excellence with compassion, for our patients and ourselves. We encourage our residents to define and achieve their interests in women’s reproductive health, while providing exceptional care to women in our community” explains Dr. Puterbaugh. “OB/GYN residency comes with the high-stakes responsibility and privilege of caring for women throughout their lives. Our residents thrive in this challenging role due to their commitment to caring for each other.”

The residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital is an ACGME accredited four-year program housed in one of the only freestanding women's hospitals in the country. In the context of the hospital's long-standing history of innovation, excellence in education and research continues to be encouraged and supported by the faculty.

Obstetric training is centered in a busy labor and delivery service at University Hospital’s main campus in downtown Cleveland, OH. Residents collaborate with the OB/GYN faculty and large midwifery services on low-risk patient care and maternal-fetal medicine specialists for high-risk patients and transfers from throughout the University Hospitals system. 

The robust gynecology service includes opportunities to work with generalists, MIGS trained specialists and surgical sub-specialists from reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI), gynecologic oncology and urogynecology.

The UH program is home to all four accredited fellowships. This allows residents to explore their interests, participate in research and make professional connections to pursue further sub-specialty training, if they choose.

The incoming class is particularly impressive, with 50% of the class from unrepresented minorities. “When I started my training 80% of trainees were male and we did not have diverse representation. It is promising to see how far we have come since then” adds Puterbaugh.

A mom of twins, published author and passionate caregiver, UH is excited to have Dr. Puterbaugh leading this program.