Attending Physician, Highland Park Hospital, IL

"People often ask why I choose to become an obstetrician. The first answer is that I love to deliver babies. For me, the birth of a newborn is an unceasing miracle. Obstetricians also are heavily involved in preventive medicine. Our advice and care can prevent illness before it starts. Also a real plus is the long-term bond that can form between patient and doctor. My partners and I look forward to establishing long-term relationships with our expectant moms that will last through the years. It is a thrill to meet children with their mothers in a store or on the street that I have delivered years earlier."

A graduate of the six-year honors program in medical education at Northwestern University, Dr. Michael Benson is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern as well. Currently, Dr. Benson is in full-time private practice in the northern suburbs of Chicago and is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology within the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

During medical school, Dr. Benson funded a volunteer program of medical students, the Horizons program. First and second year volunteers would go into inner-city 7th and 8th grade classrooms with a show and tell about a career medicine. The purpose of the program was not to encourage youngsters to go into the health professions, but rather to show the value of education and to motivate children to learn. This program was described n both the Journal of Medical Education and Public Health Reports.

As a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern, Dr. Benson developed a second program for the same audience, the Discovery Program. This was a sex education program presented in two separate one-hour sessions by volunteer third year medical students during their obstetrics and gynecology clerkship. After the program was established, Dr. Benson developed a study to assess its teaching efficacy. Children were given a 20 question multiple choice test before the first presentation, a week after the second presentation, and then 12 weeks later. A control group was given the same test three times over a three-month period without seeing the program. In the treatment group, test scores went up by 32 percent and stayed elevated with 100 percent retention at 12 weeks. In contrast, the control group's score did not change over three months. This study was a lead article in the Journal of the American Medical Association and also appeared in its Japanese language edition.

Subsequently, Dr. Benson developed a 40-minute survey of education related attitudes and behaviors called the Non-Cognitive Assessment Survey for junior high students. The results of the survey administered to over 1,000 inner city children were reported in Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as several papers in the educational literature.

Dr. Benson's research interest changed in the mid-1990s from adolescent behavior and teen pregnancy reduction to the immunology of late pregnancy, specifically amniotic fluid embolism. Having cast doubt on the hypothesis that AFE is an anaphylactic reaction to fetal antigens leaking into the maternal circulation, he is following up on evidence that the disease might be a maternal immune response to the fetus mediated by Complement. He has raised $100,000 in foundation support for his research on this orphan disease.

Dr. Benson's other chief academic activity has been the writing of textbooks for medical students and residents doing their obstetrics and gynecology rotation. His textbook Obstetrical Pearls has appeared in three editions and has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. His second text, Gynecological Pearls has been published in two editions. Dr. Benson is currently working on the next generation textbook for his publisher, FA Davis and Company, and anticipates that it will on medical store bookshelves by late 2008.

Dr. Benson also serves as a medical interview show on a new XM satellite radio station, ReachMD, XM 157 (right next to Oprah and Friends at XM 156 on the XM dial). He interviews medical thought leaders each week regarding the latest developments in research, obstetrics and gynecology, and medicine in general. ReachMD is "The Channel for Medical Professionals."

Dr. Benson remains committed to full-time private practice and is in single specialty group of 35 obstetricians, Midwest Center for Women's Healthcare. He serves on the board of this medical corporation. In addition to his participation as a host on Reach MD, Dr. Benson has published two trade paperbacks: Birthday! The Last 24 Hours of Pregnancy (Paragon House Publishers; 1993) and Pregnancy Myths (Marlowe & Company, 1998).

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