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Jennifer Occhipinti Howell

Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke Women's Health Associates
246 Baker House, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Durham, NC 27705
5601 Arringdon Park, Suite 430, Morrisville, NC 27560

Overview


As an academician in Obstetrics and Gynecology, I serve as an administrator, educator, and well-respected clinician. My faculty practice provides primary healthcare throughout the female life cycle, prenatal care, and gynecologic services. While I am committed to providing full spectrum Obstetrics and Gynecology, I have also found a few specialized niches which make my practice unique:

➢I serve as a referral provider for breast cancer patients with gynecologic problems: bleeding on Tamoxifen, vasomotor symptoms, contraceptive options, and women affected by BRCA mutations. I am a regional expert on non-hormonal alternatives for treating vasomotor symptoms among breast cancer survivors. I provide educational opportunities for other providers, so they can learn about these treatments.  I founded a Menopause Specialty Clinic in 2016 providing consultation and primary gynecologic care to all women at this stage of life which is held each week and I am continuing this work at Duke through the Center for Menopause at Arringdon.

➢I am the only pediatric and adolescent gynecologists in the Triangle and am one of only a few in the entire Southeast Region. Families across North Carolina seek my expertise on a range of pediatric and adolescent gynecologic conditions: labial adhesions, prepubescent bleeding and vaginitis, adolescents with bleeding diatheses and heavy menstrual bleeding. I also provide gynecologic care for disabled adolescents, whose care can sometimes pose additional challenges.

➢In addition, through my collaborative work seeing complex young patients I have developed several other multidisciplinary collaborations serving important needs for populations that often have difficulty finding knowledgeable comprehensive care elsewhere.
-I am the founder of the Congenital GU Anomalies Interest Group - a cross divisional and specialty group of clinicians that are working to improve education, collaboration, and a service-line here at Duke; e.g complex Mullerian Abnormalities
-I provide the adult care as well as expert consultation to Turner’s syndrome patients, in collaboration with  Pediatric Endocrinology.
-I am the Faculty Co-director of Women and Girls with Bleeding Disorders Clinic with the Division of Hematology which was begun at UNC in 2018 and I am currently in the process of creating a similar clinic at Duke.

In addition to high quality innovative clinical care, medical education has been the other focus of my academic career. I have served in leadership leadership roles in both Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education summarized below: 
  • Medical Director of Resident Continuity Clinic at UNC 2012 -2021
  • DWHA Rotation Director for Duke PGY-1 and Curriculum Committee member
  • Course Director; 4th year elective Ambulatory OB/GYN Women’s Health Selective since 2018 -21 UNC
  • Reproductive Block Director - Duke School of Medicine - Spring 2022; Co-Course Director of Reproductive Medicine taught for 5 weeks each fall to second year medical students 2016 -2021
  • Co-Clerkship Director of Care of Specialized Populations from 2016 –2020. This clerkship incorporated OBGYN, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics. 

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2022 - Present Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke Women's Health Associates, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Education, Training & Certifications


University of Massachusetts, Medical School · 1996 M.D.