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Division of Gynecologic Oncology

Michael J. Goodheart, portrait

Michael Goodheart, MD

Division Director


The division of Gynecologic Oncology at The University of Iowa has a longstanding history of research, teaching and caring for women with gynecologic malignancies.  Our fellowship graduated its first fellow in 1965.  While a division within the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, we are also part of the NCI designated Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Clinical Activities

The clinical work of our division is the foundation upon which all other activities are based.  Our clinical work includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy treatments.  Our six faculty, four mid-level providers, medical students, residents and fellows all provide high quality, compassionate medical care to patients with gynecologic malignancies. Our division is a member of the NRG oncology group and actively participates in both NCI, industry and PI driven clinical trials.  All faculty are well versed in minimally invasive surgical techniques (both robot and laparoscopic platforms), sentinel lymph node mapping, chemotherapy administration (intravenous, intraperitoneal, targeted therapies, and novel experimental agents) as well as major open abdominal and cytoreductive surgery.  We currently have one outreach clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa which is staffed on a weekly basis by faculty and daily by a mid-level provider. In addition to this outreach clinic, we also run in a monthly high risk genetics clinic staffed by a faculty member with expertise in hereditary cancers.

Research

Our division continues its long-standing commitment to improving the lives of women with gynecologic cancer and introducing new, novel treatments through participation in both basic science as well as clinical research. Our division enjoys the expertise of a MD-PhD gynecologic oncology faculty member formally trained in bioinformatics as well as a PhD basic scientist with a focus in molecular biology, as well as long-standing collaborations with many clinical and basic science faculty.  All faculty members are involved in research which include both clinical trial enrollment as well as collaborative projects and personal research interests to truly capitalize on the “bench to bedside” concept.  Our division members are active contributors to the medical literature in the form of research abstracts presented at national meetings as well as published manuscripts and book chapters.

Teaching

The teaching of medical students, residents and fellows is a major part of divisional activities.  We have trained and graduated over 37 fellows and have helped to educate countless medical students and residents over the years. We have a weekly didactic lecture series which includes presentations from gynecologic oncology faculty as well as guest speakers from a multitude of disciplines within the medical school. Journal club is presented by gynecologic oncology fellows and faculty monthly.  Our faculty are often recognized by both the department and college for excellence in teaching, through the distribution of teaching awards.  In addition to educating our own gynecologic oncology fellows, our faculty often give lectures to other departments within the college as well as participate in local-regional educational conferences. 

Conclusion

The division of Gynecologic Oncology at The University of Iowa is truly making an “academic difference” by providing excellent patient care, improving the lives of women with gynecologic malignancies by participating in groundbreaking, novel research, as well as, educating the next wave of clinicians and physician-scientist though our high volume, tertiary referral center.