About the Vincent Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGYN) Service

Under the remarkable leadership of Isaac Schiff, MD, the Vincent Obstetrics & Gynecology service is recognized worldwide for clinical excellence and research innovations that are shaping the field of women's health. It also is hailed as one of the leading voices in women’s health education, expanding knowledge through the training of young clinicians and scientists and by serving as an informational resource for women everywhere. U.S. News and World Report again this year rated the Vincent OBGYN service as one of the top in the United States.

Leading MGH Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Achievements

• DES (diethylstilbestrol): Discovered the link between DES exposure in a pregnant woman and complications that can occur in her daughter 15 to 30 years later.
• Menopause: Pioneered some of the earliest studies that led to an understanding of the process of menopause and established therapies routinely used today to manage symptoms. Serves as one of the leading educators of both the medical community and the public through the editorial leadership of Isaac Schiff, MD. His publications include the American Menopause Society's journal Menopause; the highly acclaimed, comprehensive book for women, Menopause; and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists magazine Managing Pause.
• Gynecologic Oncology: Expanded use of the Pap Smear technique. Initiated the earliest tumor studies that formed the foundation of gynecologic pathology and oncology. Developed treatment regimens for cervical, ovarian and endometrial cancers that are improving longevity while increasing quality of life for women with cancer throughout the world. Efforts continue through nearly 20 clinical trials that are generating new understanding in the treatment of gynecologic cancers.
• Obstetrics: Created in 1994, a unique single faculty practice obstetrics model that has experienced record setting growth to become the largest of its kind in New England. It offers tertiary care services in high-risk obstetrics, ultrasonography, prenatal diagnosis and intrauterine fetal therapy. A robust clinical research program has been launched to study the causes of medical complications of pregnancy.
• IVF: Instituted an IVF Unit that is achieving one of the highest pregnancy rates in the country by being at the forefront of technology and research involving oocyte cryopreservation and implantation research. Current research is expanding opportunities for women with cervical cancer to have children.
• Surgical Technique: Revolutionized early treatment for cancer of the cervix through radical hysterectomy. Published an atlas of pelvic operations used by surgeons throughout the world. Expanded the techniques of minimally invasive surgery for gyn procedures through the laparoscope and hysteroscope to aid healing and speed recovery.
• Center for Reproductive Biology: Pioneered work on the causes of premature ovarian failure (premature menopause) that promises to generate innumerable health benefits for women. Created models to study the basis of egg loss from the ovaries as a way to understand what controls ovarian life span. Developed gene-therapy and small molecule based approaches to protect the ovaries from the ravages of cancer therapy.

Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology History
The Vincent Memorial Hospital (VMH) was founded in 1891 as a tribute to Mrs. J.R. Vincent, a Boston actress and concerned citizen. It originated as an organization dedicated to caring for sick and indigent women. The VMH early leaders, including Drs. Grace Wolcott and Lena Ingraham, were instrumental in establishing the Vincent's enduring core values of excellence, compassion, and innovation. In 1931, Dr. Joe Vincent Meigs was named Chief of the Vincent and began the Vincent's tradition of clinical excellence by pioneering pelvic surgery for the treatment of cancer.

By 1940, modern surgical and laboratory techniques made the existence of an isolated hospital impractical. The Vincent Trustees were quick to recognize the tremendous potential of merging the Vincent with the vast resources of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Thus, when MGH invited the Vincent to become its gynecology service while allowing it to retain its own identity, the VMH Trustees accepted.

The move to Massachusetts General Hospital enabled researchers to rapidly accelerate their efforts. Some of the early milestones included these:

• Dr. Maurice Fremont-Smith helped to pioneer the routine use of the Pap smear.
• Dr. Frederick A. Simmons, who became the first President of the American Fertility Society, devised a method of testicular biopsy that proved to be of critical value in the study of male infertility.
• In 1952, Dr. Thomas H. Green began a formal research program to study urinary stress incontinence.
• Seven years later, Janet MacArthur, MD, and Francis Ingersoll, MD, described the hormonal changes that accompany polycystic ovaries and their implications for infertility.
• The Joe Vincent Meigs Professorship was established at the Harvard Medical School in 1962. The Vincent's Chief at the time, Howard Ulfelder, MD, was the first to occupy this prestigious chair.
• In 1971, Dr. Ulfelder was credited with making the association between the gynecologic cancer in adolescent girls and the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol), which was given to their mothers during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage.
• In 1976, Dr. Ulfelder was succeeded by the internationally known gynecologic oncologist, James H. Nelson, Jr., MD.
• At about the same time, long-time faculty member and Associate Chief, George S. Richardson, MD, established a program to measure hormone receptors in breast cancer tissue.
• Since 1988, the Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Service has been led by Isaac Schiff, MD, one of the world leaders in menopause and infertility. He has worked closely with the Vincent's Board of Trustees and its unique support group, the 1,200 member Vincent Club, to raise funds and expand educational opportunities.
• Under his leadership, the Vincent has continued to expand its clinical services and to break new ground in research that is advancing the field of women's health. This includes:
• An intimate, self-contained In Vitro Fertilization Unit has been instituted. It has consistently delivered one of the highest success rates in the country.
• Obstetrics returned to the MGH in the form of the multi-disciplinary MGH Vincent Obstetrics Program.
• The Vincent Center for Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery was added to provide specialized care for women with urinary incontinence and related concerns.
• The Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, established with seed money from the Vincent Club, and has in a short amount of time become one of the leading voices in the research community, shedding greater understanding on women's reproductive health through biomedical research.
• Dr. Schiff, along with his colleagues from Beth Israel Hospital and Brigham & Women's Hospital, chairs the Executive Committee of the Harvard Medical School Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In collaboration with Dr. Robert Barbieri of Brigham and Women's Hospital, the first fully and equally integrated residency program in the Partners HealthCare System was initiated.

The Vincent Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGYN) team is augmented by a dynamic young faculty, which works in active collaboration with other professionals, in an effort to advance the care of women in the time-honored Vincent tradition.