Gay male ob/gyn

[Pezeveng]

Hey everyone,

I just started medical school but am really interested in ob/gyn. I've shadowed a few during the past few years and want to start getting into some research here at school for the field also.

The only problem I foree is being gay and a male. I would think that some patients might be hesitant to have a gay ob thinking of issues with empathy, relatability, etc or some employers/hospitals might think these issues as well. Have you guys found this to be the case at your respective programs?

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[deleted480308]

Hey everyone,

I just started medical school but am really interested in ob/gyn. I've shadowed a few during the past few years and want to start getting into some research here at school for the field also.

The only problem I foree is being gay and a male. I would think that some patients might be hesitant to have a gay ob thinking of issues with empathy, relatability, etc or some employers/hospitals might think these issues as well. Have you guys found this to be the case at your respective programs?

I've yet to hear of "bad at ob/gyn" being a gay stereotype

 

[muscatiger]

Tons of gay males in ob/gyn ("gaynecologists"). It is usually not any more of an issue than being a straight male in ob/gyn. Lots of lesbians as well in ob/gyn as well, also not an issue. Most physicians are not directly "out" to patients, but I'm sure some patients are able to tell who is and who isn't LGBT. As far as being a gay male ob/gyn, it possibly is an advantage (some women don't want a man down there who isn't their significant other, some women don't want another woman down there). At the end of the day, you're a physician providing care for a patient, so all that should matter is your skill and patient care.

I've heard the question before "how do you expect to be able to be an ob/gyn as a male since you don't have those parts?" Well, my response always is that if I were to have cancer, I would not require my oncologist to also have had cancer (or some other anatomic pathology). The bottom line is, we're fully trained in the specialty whether or not we have those parts/that condition.

Hope this helps.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Hey everyone,

I just started medical school but am really interested in ob/gyn. I've shadowed a few during the past few years and want to start getting into some research here at school for the field also.

The only problem I foree is being gay and a male. I would think that some patients might be hesitant to have a gay ob thinking of issues with empathy, relatability, etc or some employers/hospitals might think these issues as well. Have you guys found this to be the case at your respective programs?

Just yesterday I worked with two gay male residents at my program. So anecdotally it doesn't seem uncommon and they are excellent residents that patients love.

 

[northernpsy]

Just from the perspective of an attending in another specialty, I think the vast majority of patients care about competence and bedside manner more than demographics, but being gay might be a good thing in the eyes of some women. The reality is that some women do have fears about a male gynecologist being sexually inappropriate. Even though we all know there are many male gynecologists who are very professional and would never be creepy, I would imagine for women who do have concerns about that kind of thing that it might be reassuring that you are a "safe" male who clearly has no interest in them sexually.
(This is not meant to imply that straight male gynecologists do have a sexual interest in their patients - I did my share of pelvics, paps, rectals, etc. and so I understand quite well that it is not an erotic experience to diagnose bacterial vaginosis - but just speaking of how laypeople may perceive it).

From my own experiences as a patient, I would say that sometimes it is nice to have a male doctor who doesn't pretend that he understands exactly what I've been through and therefore is more of a blank slate rather than possibly making false assumptions. Experiences of things such as menstrual cramps, childbirth, etc. can be vastly different from one woman to the next and sometimes it can be a bad thing if a female doctor assumes she knows what her patient has experienced or how the patient felt about it.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

You know, I had a horrible experience on my Ob/gyn rotation, so did most students at my school, ( so do most students in the country), I'd say about 30% of the residents were cool, the other 70% were narcissist and c-words. The few guy residents were really emotional and prone to throwing hissy fits, or guys who thought they were really good looking and came off as creeps.

 

[residencycoord]

Have you been to every OBGYN program in the country? Have you talked to medical students from all over the US? For you to make the assumption that most students in the country have a horrible experience on their OBGYN rotation is unprofessional and ridiculous at best. If you have nothing nice to say, then stay off this thread. Maybe your program has a malignant program, I don't know or maybe it the students and their lack of professionalism, interest or work ethic. OBGYN residents are extremely busy and do not have time for hand holding.

 

[GuzzyRon]

You know, I had a horrible experience on my Ob/gyn rotation, so did most students at my school, ( so do most students in the country), I'd say about 30% of the residents were cool, the other 70% were narcissist and c-words. The few guy residents were really emotional and prone to throwing hissy fits, or guys who thought they were really good looking and came off as creeps.

First of all, your post does not contribute anything useful to this thread or the OP's question (if I were a mod, I would have deleted it). Secondly, what exactly is your broad generalization based off of? Did you survey students to reach your conclusion OR are you just making up baseless, sweeping generalizations based on your own anecdotal experience? I suspect the latter is true, which tells me you still have a lot to learn, my friend.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

First of all, your post does not contribute anything useful to this thread or the OP's question (if I were a mod, I would have deleted it). Secondly, what exactly is your broad generalization based off of? Did you survey students to reach your conclusion OR are you just making up baseless, sweeping generalizations based on your own anecdotal experience? I suspect the latter is true, which tells me you still have a lot to learn, my friend.

Its a very common sentiment that the OB.GYN rotation sucks, the only other rotation that matches it in suck is the surgery rotation. I have heard how malignant OB is from too many students over too many years for it to be a coincidence. Literally every 4th year I've ever talked to online or in real life says the OB/gyn rotation is the worst, after experiencing it myself, I agree 100%

 

[residencycoord]

Its a very common sentiment that the OB.GYN rotation sucks, the only other rotation that matches it in suck is the surgery rotation. I have heard how malignant OB is from too many students over too many years for it to be a coincidence. Literally every 4th year I've ever talked to online or in real life says the OB/gyn rotation is the worst, after experiencing it myself, I agree 100%

If your avatar is true and you are going into Psychiatry, then I believe your strong dislike to OB and Surgery is that you probably could not handle the difficulty and long hours of training that both specialties require. I guess you are at your best while sitting in a chair and working in a 9-5 position.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

If your avatar is true and you are going into Psychiatry, then I believe your strong dislike to OB and Surgery is that you probably could not handle the difficulty and long hours of training that both specialties require. I guess you are at your best while sitting in a chair and working in a 9-5 position.

Sure, Ob/gyns are surgeons are usually miserable, that may have a lot to do with how they treat people.

 

[northernpsy]

Hey now, those of us in Psych and those of us in OB should be friends, especially since my experience is that there is a decent amount of psychopathology in reproductive age women where we can both be useful to the patient. If nothing else, Im always extremely relieved when the pregnant psychotic lady admitted to me tells me that somehow she actually has been getting consistent prenatal care. Whooo!

Personally, I am a psychiatrist who actually liked my rotation on ob/gyn (and even surgery). I didn't enjoy being in the OR enough to want to dedicate my life to it, but I can see why people do like it. Getting to quickly fix a problem with your own hands is cool.

However even though I enjoyed my experience, I do think that the typical surgical personality can sometimes seem very harsh to people who aren't surgeons. At my hospital the OBs were mostly chill and friendly, but I can remember crying a few times on surgery (even though I could see it was just normal surgeon behavior) so I believe the people who say they had difficult experiences on their own OB rotations.

 

[youngdoc8205]

I am a straight male in a gyn sub-specialty. Several of my colleagues/very good friends are gay and happen to be ob/gyn. Neither they nor I have had our maleness be a factor in most cases. Neither gender nor sexual orientation should affect your choice of specialty. There are good studies out there that say gender concordance for physicians is a plus for some patients but the same studies some will actively seek out opposite sex docs and many just want to get care. There are women who prefer women doctors and there are men who prefer men doctors. This is most true for gynecology and urology. But I know excellent male gynecologists and obstetricians and excellent female urologist some who see exclusively male patients like andrologists. Similarly I know some piss poor male urologists and female ob/gyns. You may encounter a patient here and there who prefers a women but I can count on one hand how often that happened in my training. Just choose what you want to do.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Please remain on topic.