Help with Residency: Ophtho vs. Obgyn

[elevation1]

Any comments or advice would be great

(Profile: I'm a male MS3, and want to stay in the U.S.)

I'm more interested in the level of patient care in Obgyn
I'm more interested in the subject material and work-life balance of Ophtho

Things that I strongly value/are important to me:
-Patient contact and care (especially involving empathy, relationship with patient)
-Interesting subject material (which Optho > Obgyn for me)
-A relatively busy service
-Minimal rounds (or short rounds) and minimal charting (or shorter charting)
-Work-life balance and lifestyle (I'm a male but definitely want enough time ++ with family (when I eventually have kids) and don't want to have to stress to find time to be with family, go on family outings, etc.)

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[qwerty89]

I'm more interested in the level of patient care, and the emotion and empathy needed in Obgyn

lolwut

seriously what does this even mean?

 

[elevation1]

lolwut

seriously what does this even mean?

Lol, fixed

 

[Psai]

I thought obgyn was great as a specialty but the amount of hormones was through the roof. It's a really nice mix of clinic and inpatient but just couldn't deal with the personalities. It sounds like you're leaning towards ophtho but do you like the subject matter? That's number one. And if you're looking towards a surgical field, there are plenty of others to look at so depending on what year you are, it's good to keep an open mind.

 

[qwerty89]

I'm more interested in the level of patient care in Obgyn
I'm more interested in the work-life balance of Ophtho

Interesting dichotomy. By level of patient care I guess you mean the intimate moments delivering a crashing baby at 2am? Telling a to-be-mother that shes about to have a stillbirth?

Because those, especially the first point, typically don't come with a great quality of life.

Not to mention in ophtho has similar moments when they fix a retinal detachment and say "yeah you'll see again"

 

[elevation1]

I thought obgyn was great as a specialty but the amount of hormones was through the roof. It's a really nice mix of clinic and inpatient but just couldn't deal with the personalities. It sounds like you're leaning towards ophtho but do you like the subject matter? That's number one. And if you're looking towards a surgical field, there are plenty of others to look at so depending on what year you are, it's good to keep an open mind.

Thanks for the advice. In 3rd year, so need to make a decision within the next couple of weeks so that I could plan my electives accordingly.
What worries me about Optho: patient care isn't as "involved" as it is in Obgyn (and interpersonal skills, patient communication, ability to be empathetic and to listen actively to the patient are my major strengths)
What worries me about Obgyn: the lifestyle and stress (and I prefer the procedural things and "minor surgeries" more than the large abdominal surgeries that are 3-4 hours)

 

[witzelsucht]

1) you want to do ophtho
2) do ophtho
3) you can be empathetic with your end stage DR patients all you want and go home to your fuking family
4) obgyn residents are the most miserable, unempathetic doctors i've worked with. watching women grimace in pain and shrug it off as not-real ctx, the females especially just jam their hands up the vadge, long hours
5) no woman wants a male obgyn. dont set yourself up to be discriminated against for 40 yrs

 

[elevation1]

1) you want to do ophtho
2) do ophtho
3) you can be empathetic with your end stage DR patients all you want and go home to your fuking family
4) obgyn residents are the most miserable, unempathetic doctors i've worked with. watching women grimace in pain and shrug it off as not-real ctx, the females especially just jam their hands up the vadge, long hours
5) no woman wants a male obgyn. dont set yourself up to be discriminated against for 40 yrs

Thanks for your input.
1) most (~70%) of the gynecologists as my university center are males; in all my rotations in gyn clinics, not once did a see a woman have a problem with the fact the a male was the gynecologist (although in many cases they weren't new patients)
2) unless obgyn attracts "non-empathetic" doctors, there's no reason that there should be more non-empathetic doctors in obgyn vs any other specialty; maybe it's more of an (observation) bias based on what you observed at your centers
3) overall, the residencies during my obgyn seem happy

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If you like both things about equally, why choose the one that gives you a ****ty lifestyle?

 

[aalamruad]

most (~70%) of the gynecologists as my university center are males; in all my rotations in gyn clinics, not once did a see a woman have a problem with the fact the a male was the gynecologist (although in many cases they weren't new patients)

Most attendings are male but most residents are female, there's a dramatic shift currently underway and when you're practicing 20-30 years down the road most of your obgyn colleagues will be female.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Any comments or advice would be great

I'm more interested in the level of patient care in Obgyn
I'm more interested in the subject material and work-life balance of Ophtho

Things that I strongly value/are important to me:
-Patient contact and care (especially involving empathy, relationship with patient)
-Interesting subject material (which Optho > Obgyn for me)
-A relatively busy service
-Minimal rounds (or short rounds) and minimal charting (or shorter charting)
-Work-life balance and lifestyle (I'm a male but definitely want enough time ++ with family (when I eventually have kids) and don't want to have to stress to find time to be with family, go on family outings, etc.)

This is exactly how I feel about neuro vs. OBGYN. I posted a similar thread awhile back and most people urged me to do neuro mainly because I was a male. I also think "interest" is made out to be a bigger factor than it is. Interest in the subject matter and actually enjoying your day to day activities aren't always the same thing.

I think neuro has the potential to be more interesting and I went home and wanted to read about neuro diseases and treatment. Unfortunately, most of the clinical cases we had were boring and the potential coolness of neuro only rarely manifests with a zebra like anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Usually it is just a diabetic with neuropathy, a stroke you can't fix, or mysterious headache and back pain. Most days I still dreaded coming into work and rounding and dealing with the general soul sucking BS of inpatient medicine and a dying patient population.

OBGYN was my favorite rotation by far. I woke up early and wanted to come to the hospital. I loved the mix of gyn consults, clinic, taking care of some primary care meds/problems, family planning and education, emergencies, etc. Above all, delivering babies has been the single most memorable and exciting experience in medical school. I have generally been filled with ennui during MS3 as I realized wards medicine was depressing and I didn't like medical management of many IM type problems. Then I started my OBGYN rotation and I finally felt how I expected MS3 to feel. I was excited, engaged, and reinvigorated. The patients were mostly healthy and happy. I even liked the surgeries. I hated my GS rotation and thought I hated surgery in general but I think I was more an abused dog after surgery who was just afraid of messing up. I felt more relaxed and at home in the OR with the OBGYNs at my institution. Gyn also has its fair share of "weird" and interesting path like moles and teratomas and that kept me happy.

I only have two problems with OBGYN but they are big ones: being a male and malpractice. I don't know how much of a deal being male is. A lot of places like Kaiser just assign patients an OB and they have to deal with it. If you come in to a hospital to deliver and the place has a hospitalist model then it is also not an issue usually. Most women do prefer a woman if they have a choice, but rarely will a woman actively refuse a male assigned to her in such situations. If you sub specialize in something like MFM or REI then your patients just want a great doctor and they think less about gender. Obviously, the more surgical fields like gyn onc and urogyn are also less affected by the gender preference. Malpractice.... well that still weighs heavily on my mind.

If you are considering ophtho you probably have good board scores. Just imagine the doors that would be open for you in OBGYN...

I you ever want to PM me about it to just chat and get some thoughts out there...feel free!

 

[NWwildcat2013]

1) you want to do ophtho.
2) do ophtho
3) you can be empathetic with your end stage DR patients all you want and go home to your fuking family.
4) obgyn residents are the most miserable, unempathetic doctors i've worked with. watching women grimace in pain and shrug it off as not-real ctx, the females especially just jam their hands up the vadge, long hours
5) no woman wants a male obgyn. dont set yourself up to be discriminated against for 40 yrs

1. Doesn't seem clear cut to me. He likes both for different reasons.
2. See 1.
3. I get what he is talking about. Reproductive rights, childbirth, etc. are all very sensitive topics and it is gratifying to help someone (or even a whole family) through what can be the best moment of their life or one of the worst. If you like to be embedded in high intensity situations then you will be sad in ophtho.
4. I felt the attendings at my school were the best! Sure, you get a little desensitized after you millionth delivery, but on the whole they were very caring. I think you may have had a very bad experience which is unfortunate.
5. Most women prefer a male, but a male won't be out of a job. Especially if they sub-specialize.

I am continually surprised by the immediate and strong hate for OBGYN whenever someone brings it up.

 

[ERDOC555]

This is exactly how I feel about neuro vs. OBGYN. I posted a similar thread awhile back and most people urged me to do neuro mainly because I was a male. I also think "interest" is made out to be a bigger factor than it is. Interest in the subject matter and actually enjoying your day to day activities aren't always the same thing.

I think neuro has the potential to be more interesting and I went home and wanted to read about neuro diseases and treatment. Unfortunately, most of the clinical cases we had were boring and the potential coolness of neuro only rarely manifests with a zebra like anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Usually it is just a diabetic with neuropathy, a stroke you can't fix, or mysterious headache and back pain. Most days I still dreaded coming into work and rounding and dealing with the general soul sucking BS of inpatient medicine and a dying patient population.

OBGYN was my favorite rotation by far. I woke up early and wanted to come to the hospital. I loved the mix of gyn consults, clinic, taking care of some primary care meds/problems, family planning and education, emergencies, etc. Above all, delivering babies has been the single most memorable and exciting experience in medical school. I have generally been filled with ennui during MS3 as I realized wards medicine was depressing and I didn't like medical management of many IM type problems. Then I started my OBGYN rotation and I finally felt how I expected MS3 to feel. I was excited, engaged, and reinvigorated. The patients were mostly healthy and happy. I even liked the surgeries. I hated my GS rotation and thought I hated surgery in general but I think I was more an abused dog after surgery who was just afraid of messing up. I felt more relaxed and at home in the OR with the OBGYNs at my institution. Gyn also has its fair share of "weird" and interesting path like moles and teratomas and that kept me happy.

I only have two problems with OBGYN but they are big ones: being a male and malpractice. I don't know how much of a deal being male is. A lot of places like Kaiser just assign patients an OB and they have to deal with it. If you come in to a hospital to deliver and the place has a hospitalist model then it is also not an issue usually. Most women do prefer a woman if they have a choice, but rarely will a woman actively refuse a male assigned to her in such situations. If you sub specialize in something like MFM or REI then your patients just want a great doctor and they think less about gender. Obviously, the more surgical fields like gyn onc and urogyn are also less affected by the gender preference. Malpractice.... well that still weighs heavily on my mind.

If you are considering ophtho you probably have good board scores. Just imagine the doors that would be open for you in OBGYN...

I you ever want to PM me about it to just chat and get some thoughts out there...feel free!

Could you elaborate on what you mean by being worried about malpractice?

 

[elevation1]

I think neuro has the potential to be more interesting and I went home and wanted to read about neuro diseases and treatment. Unfortunately, most of the clinical cases we had were boring and the potential coolness of neuro only rarely manifests with a zebra like anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Usually it is just a diabetic with neuropathy, a stroke you can't fix, or mysterious headache and back pain. Most days I still dreaded coming into work and rounding and dealing with the general soul sucking BS of inpatient medicine and a dying patient population.

Thanks very much for your input. I could honestly relate to essentially everything you said, and had very similar experiences and thoughts.

(see bold) That is exactly why I ruled out Neuro, and instead started to consider Ophtho (which also has a nice amount of neuro).
I also love Neuro, but felt, like you said, that (1) most of the patients (esp. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Stroke, etc.) are on a progressive decline (not the case for Ophtho), (2) there is no/little curative or disease-modifying therapy in Neuro (whereas in Ophtho there is), (3) Ophtho has more procedures and hands-on stuff (which I like to do a bit of).

Interested to hear your thoughts on this!

 

[elevation1]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by being worried about malpractice?

Obgyn is by far the "worst" specialty regarding malpractice suits and malpractice insurance (have heard that it's in the range of $150k/year).
Obgyns seem to get easily hit with suits and are particularly vulnerable given the scope of their practice.
This is also one of the stressors that is making me second-guess whether I want to do Obgyn.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by being worried about malpractice?

Its high and you will get sued, which is an extremely stressful experience.

I'd be less worried in a state with caps on non-economic damages like California or Texas, but they are not the norm.

http://contemporaryobgyn.modernmedi...rofessional-liability-perspective-0?page=full

 

[elevation1]

OBGYN was my favorite rotation by far. I woke up early and wanted to come to the hospital. I loved the mix of gyn consults, clinic, taking care of some primary care meds/problems, family planning and education, emergencies, etc. Above all, delivering babies has been the single most memorable and exciting experience in medical school. I have generally been filled with ennui during MS3 as I realized wards medicine was depressing and I didn't like medical management of many IM type problems. Then I started my OBGYN rotation and I finally felt how I expected MS3 to feel. I was excited, engaged, and reinvigorated. The patients were mostly healthy and happy. I even liked the surgeries. I hated my GS rotation and thought I hated surgery in general but I think I was more an abused dog after surgery who was just afraid of messing up. I felt more relaxed and at home in the OR with the OBGYNs at my institution. Gyn also has its fair share of "weird" and interesting path like moles and teratomas and that kept me happy.

Still haven't done all my rotations, but before I did Obgyn, it wasn't even on my radar as a possible residency choice for me, but then, and ever since, it's been my favorite rotation.

I only have two problems with OBGYN but they are big ones: being a male and malpractice. I don't know how much of a deal being male is. A lot of places like Kaiser just assign patients an OB and they have to deal with it. If you come in to a hospital to deliver and the place has a hospitalist model then it is also not an issue usually. Most women do prefer a woman if they have a choice, but rarely will a woman actively refuse a male assigned to her in such situations. If you sub specialize in something like MFM or REI then your patients just want a great doctor and they think less about gender. Obviously, the more surgical fields like gyn onc and urogyn are also less affected by the gender preference. Malpractice.... well that still weighs heavily on my mind.

The malpractice issue is one the things that is making me second-guess Obgyn.

Are you are resident?

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Thanks very much for your input. I could honestly relate to essentially everything you said, and had very similar experiences and thoughts.

(see bold) That is exactly why I ruled out Neuro, and instead started to consider Ophtho (which also has a nice amount of neuro).
I also love Neuro, but felt, like you said, that (1) most of the patients (esp. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Stroke, etc.) are on a progressive decline (not the case for Ophtho), (2) there is no/little curative or disease-modifying therapy in Neuro (whereas in Ophtho there is), (3) Ophtho has more procedures and hands-on stuff (which I like to do a bit of).

Interested to hear your thoughts on this!

I agree with the things you listed. Ophtho is better than neuro in that regard and I wish that I had considered it earlier. Another thing that drives me away from neuro is how many people end up sub-specializing and treating basically one disease like MS, stroke, or epilepsy. Does this happen in ophtho or is "general ophtho" still a thing? I feel like most of the people I know in the field just do retina or cataracts or something specific. Personally, I get freaked out by going through all of this just to be cornered into one disease or issue.

Re: above post

I am not a resident. MS3 who needs to schedule my electives and am at the exact same crossroads as you.

 

[BurghStudent]

IMO, OBs aren't paid nearly enough for what they do.

 

[ERDOC555]

Obgyn is by far the "worst" specialty regarding malpractice suits and malpractice insurance (have heard that it's in the range of $150k/year).
Obgyns seem to get easily hit with suits and are particularly vulnerable given the scope of their practice.
This is also one of the stressors that is making me second-guess whether I want to do Obgyn.

Its high and you will get sued, which is an extremely stressful experience.

I'd be less worried in a state with caps on non-economic damages like California or Texas, but they are not the norm.

http://contemporaryobgyn.modernmedi...rofessional-liability-perspective-0?page=full

Thanks for the responses. I had heard that OB/GYN was one of the most litigious specialties, but I wasn't sure just how bad it is.

I can definitely understand the fear and stress of having to endure a lawsuit, but when it comes to malpractice cost, wouldn't that be built into the salary?

It's hard to believe an OB/GYN making 300 k each year would have to pay 100k+ out of pocket for their own malpractice. Or is that the case and the OB/GYN salaries are much lower than what we see online?

 

[pd1112]

Any comments or advice would be great

I'm more interested in the level of patient care in Obgyn
I'm more interested in the subject material and work-life balance of Ophtho

Things that I strongly value/are important to me:
-Patient contact and care (especially involving empathy, relationship with patient)
-Interesting subject material (which Optho > Obgyn for me)
-A relatively busy service
-Minimal rounds (or short rounds) and minimal charting (or shorter charting)
-Work-life balance and lifestyle (I'm a male but definitely want enough time ++ with family (when I eventually have kids) and don't want to have to stress to find time to be with family, go on family outings, etc.)

This is exactly how I feel about neuro vs. OBGYN. I posted a similar thread awhile back and most people urged me to do neuro mainly because I was a male. I also think "interest" is made out to be a bigger factor than it is. Interest in the subject matter and actually enjoying your day to day activities aren't always the same thing.

I think neuro has the potential to be more interesting and I went home and wanted to read about neuro diseases and treatment. Unfortunately, most of the clinical cases we had were boring and the potential coolness of neuro only rarely manifests with a zebra like anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Usually it is just a diabetic with neuropathy, a stroke you can't fix, or mysterious headache and back pain. Most days I still dreaded coming into work and rounding and dealing with the general soul sucking BS of inpatient medicine and a dying patient population.

OBGYN was my favorite rotation by far. I woke up early and wanted to come to the hospital. I loved the mix of gyn consults, clinic, taking care of some primary care meds/problems, family planning and education, emergencies, etc. Above all, delivering babies has been the single most memorable and exciting experience in medical school. I have generally been filled with ennui during MS3 as I realized wards medicine was depressing and I didn't like medical management of many IM type problems. Then I started my OBGYN rotation and I finally felt how I expected MS3 to feel. I was excited, engaged, and reinvigorated. The patients were mostly healthy and happy. I even liked the surgeries. I hated my GS rotation and thought I hated surgery in general but I think I was more an abused dog after surgery who was just afraid of messing up. I felt more relaxed and at home in the OR with the OBGYNs at my institution. Gyn also has its fair share of "weird" and interesting path like moles and teratomas and that kept me happy.

I only have two problems with OBGYN but they are big ones: being a male and malpractice. I don't know how much of a deal being male is. A lot of places like Kaiser just assign patients an OB and they have to deal with it. If you come in to a hospital to deliver and the place has a hospitalist model then it is also not an issue usually. Most women do prefer a woman if they have a choice, but rarely will a woman actively refuse a male assigned to her in such situations. If you sub specialize in something like MFM or REI then your patients just want a great doctor and they think less about gender. Obviously, the more surgical fields like gyn onc and urogyn are also less affected by the gender preference. Malpractice.... well that still weighs heavily on my mind.

If you are considering ophtho you probably have good board scores. Just imagine the doors that would be open for you in OBGYN...

I you ever want to PM me about it to just chat and get some thoughts out there...feel free!

Both of you should look at urology. OB-Gyn was not on my radar, then I loved it after rotating as an MS3, but I had a lot of the same concerns as both of you. There is a lot of overlap with urology, but without those concerns. The lifestyle is better than OB-Gyn. There is even some overlap with neurology as many neurologic disorders cause voiding dysfunction.

 

[Smurfette]

Thanks for the responses. I had heard that OB/GYN was one of the most litigious specialties, but I wasn't sure just how bad it is.

I can definitely understand the fear and stress of having to endure a lawsuit, but when it comes to malpractice cost, wouldn't that be built into the salary?

It's hard to believe an OB/GYN making 300 k each year would have to pay 100k+ out of pocket for their own malpractice. Or is that the case and the OB/GYN salaries are much lower than what we see online?

Employed physicians typically don't pay their own malpractice---their employer does (and you should make sure of this when negotiating a contract, including tail coverage). If you are in private practice, you are paying for it.

Malpractice insurance rates vary greatly by state. It is possible to have more reasonable insurance rates if you are willing to live in a state with lower caps on damages. I know my state has OB premiums that are in the low 5-figures a year.

 

[DocWinter]

Optho tops OBGYN in lifestyle, pay, hours, etc. I asked an OB doc what he would do if he could do it all over again, and he said as much as he loved his work, he would have hands down do something surgical with better lifestyle.

One big missing piece here is competitiveness. OB is one of the least competative surgical specialties; optho is pretty high and so is urology. It's one thing to talk about getting in but the Uro match is something around 70% and I don't know for optho but I am sure it is competitive.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Both of you should look at urology. OB-Gyn was not on my radar, then I loved it after rotating as an MS3, but I had a lot of the same concerns as both of you. There is a lot of overlap with urology, but without those concerns. The lifestyle is better than OB-Gyn. There is even some overlap with neurology as many neurologic disorders cause voiding dysfunction.

If I could do med school over again I would absolutely look into it earlier, but it is too late for me. I have the scores but no research/connections, and I can't take a year off for personal reasons.

But yeah... I'd advise anyone interested in OBGYN for the types of procedures they do and the mix of clinic/OR to look into urology early.

 

[solitarius]

Can you thrive around catty Type A women?

Sounds like you can.

Echoing the dramatic shift underway, most of the OB-GYNs at my school are female.

 

[mcloaf]

Both of you should look at urology. OB-Gyn was not on my radar, then I loved it after rotating as an MS3, but I had a lot of the same concerns as both of you. There is a lot of overlap with urology, but without those concerns. The lifestyle is better than OB-Gyn. There is even some overlap with neurology as many neurologic disorders cause voiding dysfunction.

Maybe I'm wrong but I'd think if you're passionate about OBGyn you might not be satisfied spending a huge chunk of your time doing prostate exams.

 

[elevation1]

Both of you should look at urology. OB-Gyn was not on my radar, then I loved it after rotating as an MS3, but I had a lot of the same concerns as both of you. There is a lot of overlap with urology, but without those concerns. The lifestyle is better than OB-Gyn. There is even some overlap with neurology as many neurologic disorders cause voiding dysfunction.

My reservation about urology is that, for what I get, it's highly surgical compared to Obgyn and Ophtho

 

[pd1112]

If I could do med school over again I would absolutely look into it earlier, but it is too late for me. I have the scores but no research/connections, and I can't take a year off for personal reasons.

But yeah... I'd advise anyone interested in OBGYN for the types of procedures they do and the mix of clinic/OR to look into urology early.

Unless there's more to the story, I wouldn't give up for the reasons you mentioned alone. I decided late as well & didn't have research/connections, but just matched. PM me if you want.

Maybe I'm wrong but I'd think if you're passionate about OBGyn you might not be satisfied spending a huge chunk of your time doing prostate exams.

I was never passionate about OB (doesn't sound like OP is either), I just really enjoyed my rotation & strongly considered it for a few months. Not sure what type of prostate exam you were taught, but even 50 exams in a week (never happens) would be about 3 minutes total.

My reservation about urology is that, for what I get, it's highly surgical compared to Obgyn and Ophtho

Not sure what you mean by highly surgical..? In general, the # & length of surgeries & procedures can't be much different from OB.

 

[DoctwoB]

I'm a uro resident so can't really speak to the other fields, but consider Urology a surgical field. Your life in residency (5-6 years) is that of a surgical resident. You round on inpatients, see consults, and operate. Operations are highly variable ranging from small endoscopic cases (cystoscopy) to more significant endoscopic cases (transurethral resections of prostate or bladder tumors, percutaneous nephrolithotomy), to small open cases (hydroceles, hernias, etc.) to major abdominal cases done either open, laparoscopically, or robotically such as partial or radical nephrectomies, prostatectomies, cystectomies with urinary diversion, etc. On some rotations we do get into clinic, but usually its not more then a day or two per week. Lifestyle during residency is pretty similar to most other surgical fields. Having spent a year on gensurg, I think our juniors have it tougher, as there is a lot of "home call" meaning no post call days. Our chiefs definitely have it easier though, as patients are much less sick and there are fewer middle of the night cases.

Now life as an attending is different, with most attendings having ~2-3 days of clinic per week. Now at that stage if you want to have a practice more geared towards clinic and smaller procedures you certainly can. Lifestyle as an attending is generally pretty good for a surgical field, as there are relatively fewer urologic emergencies that require middle of the night calls or operating. The job market is great overall due to limited supply of Urologists, though it more limited in specific subspecialties of Urology (e.g academic urologic oncology).

Urology is a great field, but I would make the decision based on if you want to be a surgeon first. If you can't see yourself spending most of the next 5-6 years in the OR then it may not be a great choice for you. If you're looking for more of medical field with procedures, I'd consider Cardiology, Pulm/CCM, etc.

 

[mcloaf]

I was never passionate about OB (doesn't sound like OP is either), I just really enjoyed my rotation & strongly considered it for a few months. Not sure what type of prostate exam you were taught, but even 50 exams in a week (never happens) would be about 3 minutes total.

I guess it depends on what drew you to OB. I'm doing uro and enjoyed the gyn part of my rotation but hated L&D so much that I'd probably sooner go into consulting than practice in ob/gyn.

Not sure what you mean by highly surgical..? In general, the # & length of surgeries & procedures can't be much different from OB.

I don't think there's a uro equivalent for the non-operative time OB residents spend doing deliveries on L&D. Uro also includes a true surgical intern year and is 1-2 years longer overall.

 

[elevation1]

I was never passionate about OB (doesn't sound like OP is either), I just really enjoyed my rotation & strongly considered it for a few months. Not sure what type of prostate exam you were taught, but even 50 exams in a week (never happens) would be about 3 minutes total.

I am passionate about OB (I was strongly considering OBGYN until about a couple of weeks ago when I started thinking more about how stressful the lifestyle is, and it was only then when I started thinking more about Ophtho which is always something of interest but that we've had so little exposure to; Neuro was the most interesting subject material for me, especially that of the eye; also was into Physics and Astronomy/Astrophysics back in the day).

My personality is more of the warm/empathetic type who would be happy to sit there and listen to a woman talk for 10 minutes without rushing her. I almost teared up the first time I saw a baby born, which was a C-section. Seeing a couple find out the sex of their child and their happiness gives me chills.

 

[SunsFun]

Consider the positive aspect of being a male OBGYN. You will probably see fewer picky difficult patients.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Consider the positive aspect of being a male OBGYN. You will probably see fewer picky difficult patients.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Are you assuming that lack of a gender preference means they won't be a high maintenance patient?

 

[SunsFun]

Are you assuming that lack of a gender preference means they won't be a high maintenance patient?

No. Just saying that if I was a high maintenance female patient, the first request I would have is to see a female obgyn


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[pd1112]

I don't think there's a uro equivalent for the non-operative time OB residents spend doing deliveries on L&D. Uro also includes a true surgical intern year and is 1-2 years longer overall.

Yeah, the residencies are different. I meant in general practice after residency, the total # of procedures & time spent doing them would be fairly comparable. I don't have any numbers to back that up, just an assumption based on my 16 weeks in uro & 1.5 months in ObGyn.

 

[elevation1]

Bump

 

[elevation1]

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[FindMeOnTheLinks]

You can use your empathy skills in ophthalmology. The loss of vision is a highly emotional/vulnerable experience for most people given that much of how we experience the world is through our eyes. In general people are very sensitive about their eyes and if somebody is going to be cutting their eyeball or sticking it with needles, they are going to need an extraordinary amount of trust in that person. Because of that I think the successful opththalmologist will have great people skills.

 

[Azete]

I haven't done any rotations nor have I shadowed an OB, but I have accompanied my wife while she delivered our kids and that experience alone was enough for me to put ob/gyn at the absolute bottom of my career choices -- right below dropping out and selling heroin.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

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[swoopyswoop]

Did no one else notice this??

(Profile: I'm a female MS3, and want to stay in the U.S.)

-Work-life balance and lifestyle (I'm a male but definitely want enough time ++ with family (when I eventually have kids) and don't want to have to stress to find time to be with family, go on family outings, etc.)