Duke Ob/Gyn Chair Matthew D. Barber, MD, MHS, announced today that Jennifer O. Howell, MD, has been selected as vice chair for education, effective July 1, 2022.
Dr. Howell joined the Department of Ob/Gyn as an associate professor last year, and she holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke. For the past year, she has been an integral part of our education leadership, serving as director of instructional design and a member of our Education Committee. In addition to her extensive career focused on ob/gyn, menopause and Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology (PAG), she brings to this new role significant experience as a clinical and pre-clinical medical educator.
Dr. Howell has worked at the national level in the Graduate Medical Education arena with organizations including the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) and the American Professors of Gynecology & Obstetrics (APGO). Prior to joining Duke Ob/Gyn, Dr. Howell was faculty at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine for 11 years. At UNC, she served as medical director of the ob/gyn residents’ continuity clinic, and rotation director of ambulatory ob/gyn. Her collaborative work has included an intentional teaching curriculum, a resident practice leadership group and integration of residents into UNC’s community clinics. These transformational changes improved the clinical and practice management skills of the residents, conformed to the principles of racial equity and improved revenue and patient experience metrics.
She is a graduate of APGO/CREOG’s Scholars and Leaders Program and also serves on the Resident Education Committee for the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology.
In addition to her academic achievements, Dr. Howell has been published extensively on curriculum development, and she has been the recipient of multiple APGO Faculty Teaching Awards. She has been a member of the UNC Academy of Educators since 2013, as well as a UNC School of Medicine Teaching Scholar. Dr. Howell was selected as a member of the Teaching for Equity Fellowship in 2021.
Dr. Howell is a graduate of the Duke Ob/Gyn residency program (Class of 2000).