Dr. Foster comes by his attentive and compassionate manner naturally. He says his father, who was a practicing OB/GYN for more than 50 years, modeled a humanistic approach to medicine every day. Those early lessons have served him well, since he has chosen to become one of the world’s few experts in complex vulvar problems.
While Dr. Foster maintains an active practice in general gynecology, about two-thirds of his patients come to him for specialty treatment, primarily for vulvar disease but also for geriatric gynecology, urogynecology, and menopausal issues.
Dr. Foster takes a comprehensive and controlled approach, a must for difficult-to-diagnose conditions. He emphasizes patient participation and credits much of his success to his capacity to listen to his patients and “find the words behind the words.” He’s sensitive to what his patients have been through before coming to him. That means his first goal is to precisely pinpoint a diagnosis before embarking on treatment, then to give equal attention to treating both the biological and emotional aspects of the illness.
Dr. Foster joined the University of Rochester in 1996 and is now Associate Professor and Director of Ambulatory Care, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He came to us after serving as Director of the Division of Gynecologic Specialties and Director of the Residency Program in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He completed his Medical Degree from the Thomas Jefferson University in 1976, his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1980 and a fellowship at The Vrie University of Amsterdam in 1981.
He is an advisor to the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease. In addition, he is in constant communication with the handful of other worldwide authorities in the field. He oversees multiple investigations to better understand vulvar disease and to come up with new treatments, and has published a wide range of peer-reviewed articles.