Faculty

Leadership

Kelly Copeland Hall, MD FACOG
Program Director

• Medical School – Ohio State University College of Medicine
• Residency – Ohio State University Hospital

Areas of Interest: Preventative care, including prenatal care, paps, and other screening tests. Out of medicine, Dr. Copeland enjoys cooking with her husband, and spending time with her twin girls and family pup, Harry.

“I am consistently impressed with St. Luke’s investment in providing excellent patient care. The willingness from both the department and the network, to change, grow, and improve in order to optimize not only patient experience but resident education is part of what makes St. Luke’s so special.”

– Dr. Kelly Copeland Hall

 

Rachel O’Connell, MD FACOG
Associate Program Director

• Medical School – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Residency – University of Rochester School of Medicine

Areas of Interest: contraception, family planning, fertility, obstetrics, breastfeeding medicine, postpartum mood disorders, endometriosis, PCOS, uterine fibroid, chronic pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, LGBTQ health, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and menopausal medicine. Outside of medicine, Dr. O’Connell enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, walking her dog, and camping.

“I was drawn to St. Luke’s after meeting the people - at St. Luke’s you are family. We keep patients at the center and are passionate about providing safe, high-quality, and evidence-based healthcare. Once I began working with residents, I realized what a strong residency program we provide. With the acuity and volume of patients at our hospitals across the network, our residents come out with the exposure and experience they need to be a strong specialist in our field.”

– Dr. Rachel O’Connell

 

Elizabeth Dierking, MD FACOG
Chair of the Department

• Medical School – University of Pennsylvania
• Residency – New York University School of Medicine

Areas of Interest: pregnancy care, reliable contraception, and preventative care. Outside of medicine, Dr. Dierking enjoys spending time with her family.

“St. Luke’s Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency Program has a strong tradition of training excellent physicians to prepare them for their future clinical practice as a generalist or for ongoing education in a subspecialty fellowship. We teach our residents evidence-based medicine and give them the tools necessary to critically read and assess the literature to ensure they will remain up to date after residency. We also encourage them to actively participate in research so that they can help shape the future of our field.”

– Dr. Elizabeth Dierking

 

Israel Zighelboim, MD
Network Chairman of the Department of Oncology & Cancer Center Director, Gynecologic Oncologist

• Medical School – Universidad Central de Venezuela
• Internship – Baylor College of Medicine
• Residency – Baylor College of Medicine
• Fellowship – Washington School of Medicine

Areas of Interest: minimally invasive surgery, managing cancerous and noncancerous diseases of the reproductive system, and cancer genetics. Dr. Zighelboim is fluent in both English and Spanish.

“Part of what makes St. Luke’s special, is the quality from specialty to specialty – the enthusiasm for caring for the patient, having the best, most advanced technology and having access to the best clinical trials. I always wanted to do something that would allow me to have a longer, more fulfilling relationship with my patients – at St. Luke’s I am able to do that.”

– Dr. Israel Zighelboim

 

General OB/GYN Physicians
Our board-certified obstetricians and gynecologists have been carefully chosen because of their teaching and mentoring abilities. They are actively involved in resident teaching at every level. The members of this group have varying interests and individual skills, ranging from high-risk general obstetrics, management of menopause, operative endoscopy and vaginal surgery, chronic pelvic pain, and medical ethics. Many serve as guest lecturers during educational time on behalf of the program.

Perinatology (Maternal and Fetal Medicine)
Eight fellowship-trained maternal/fetal medicine specialists are responsible for running the MFM rotation, they have a daily presence on both labor units and assist in the management of our high-risk pregnancies in the inpatient and outpatient settings.

Laborist
Daytime coverage of the resident service on the labor floor is handled by one of our laborist physicians. Their presence and access to the residents allow for great one-on-one teaching and supervision.

Reproductive Endocrinology (REI) and Infertility
A board-certified REI who practices as part of a larger community-based infertility group serves as our section chief. She is responsible for the majority of the residents’ education on this rotation and provides them with clinical experience in reproductive endocrinology, infertility, embryology, and all types of assisted reproductive technologies. She also supervises them in the operating room and provides them with instructions on gynecologic ultrasound. Another board-certified REI subspecialist on faculty with experience and interest in transgender medicine supervises the residents in the clinic.

Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstruction (Urogyn)
Our world-renowned faculty has been on the cutting edge of new urogynecologic procedures. Our section chief is a fellowship-trained Urogynecologist who is responsible for didactic teaching and the urogyn rotation. This third-year rotation includes time in the operating room as well as office-based care in his private office and the urogynecology clinic. He has two fellowship-trained partners who contribute significantly to the residents’ education. The Allentown campus, with its advanced surgical suite, is the mainstay of our Urogynecology service.

Gynecologic Oncology (gyn onc)
Five fellowship-trained gynecologic oncologists provide a diverse educational opportunity for the residents. They provide extensive surgical experience for the residents who operate side-by-side with them during their four years of residency. The gyn onc service provides opportunities to learn comprehensive management of complex surgical patients, chemotherapeutic management, radiotherapy for gynecologic malignancy and opportunities for research projects.  Our gynecologic oncologists also provide didactic education and mentoring during the protected education time as well as our gyn onc rotations. Their constant presence allows for easy access and consultation.

Neonatology
We partner with a group of board-certified and full-time neonatologists who manage our network’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). All neonatologists participate in clinical care, neonatal resuscitation and bedside teaching, and participate in High-risk Obstetric/ Neonatal Case Conferences.

Family Planning
St. Luke's is a Ryan Residency Training Program. Our residents get an early opportunity to complete Ryan learning modules during their intern Family Planning focused rotation. The remainder of our family planning training is provided in conjunction with a local private facility that provides family planning and abortion services. One of our faculty members with a special interest in family planning also provides weekly educational sessions to the residents on the rotation. Residents provide care at a complex contraception clinic offered through our Star Community Health Centers.

LGBTQ Healthcare
Our hospital and clinics are a safe space for members of the LGBTQ community. One of our REI faculty and several of our OBGYN Generalists provide desired medical hormonal therapy to transgender patients in the community through our Star Community Health clinic. Many of our other faculty members provide consultation & care regarding gender affirming surgeries. Our residents are also able to gain exposure to transgender medicine during their family planning rotation.

Fellows
St. Luke's has both a Minimally Invasive Gynecology fellowship and a Gynecologic Oncology fellowship. The role of the fellows in resident education is to act as an additional source of education and mentorship. The fellows allow for increased research, didactic, and enhanced surgical and hands-on simulation opportunities for our residents.