Gen Surgeon turned OB/Gyn
Started by Gynyeah
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are you nuts?
you are a glutton for punishment.. finished a tough intern year and gonna do a brutal residency for a brutal life.. dang................... who are you?
There are three main reasons for my swtich. 1.) Happiness. 2.) More control of my schedule (aka. have a life outside of work) 3.) I love to operate but I feel that I am turning into the crabby surgeons that I work with everyday. I see myself in 3 years ****ting on the interns, yelling at the ancillary staff, and hating my patients.
I did a rotation in Gyn Onc surgery last month and the camaradarie among residents was top notch, they were trying their hardest to make the patients' experience a comfortable one. The attendings, residents, and surgical staff treated each other with mutual respect. The patients were much more enjoyable to work with; they were extremely happy and gracious finding a team that could manage their most intimate and embarrassing problems in a professional way. The patients were much more healthy, and there was less anal retentiveness.
All in all, I see myself being a happier man as an OB/Gyn surgeon than a Gen surgeon. Yes, the salary is dramatically less, but sacraficing money for happiness would not be a very smart decision. I see myself being able to control my work hours much more easily as an OB/Gyn attending, and being able to have a life outside of work. I like treating patients in clinic, I like OB, the cases on average are shorter (not too many 8-hour pseudomyxoma cases), I even like calling myself a gynecologist.
I'd like to know anyone else's thoughts on this decision. Maybe I should consider switching to a more amiable General Surg program? Are there any malignant gyn programs out there I should avoid?
I did a rotation in Gyn Onc surgery last month and the camaradarie among residents was top notch, they were trying their hardest to make the patients' experience a comfortable one. The attendings, residents, and surgical staff treated each other with mutual respect. The patients were much more enjoyable to work with; they were extremely happy and gracious finding a team that could manage their most intimate and embarrassing problems in a professional way. The patients were much more healthy, and there was less anal retentiveness.
All in all, I see myself being a happier man as an OB/Gyn surgeon than a Gen surgeon. Yes, the salary is dramatically less, but sacraficing money for happiness would not be a very smart decision. I see myself being able to control my work hours much more easily as an OB/Gyn attending, and being able to have a life outside of work. I like treating patients in clinic, I like OB, the cases on average are shorter (not too many 8-hour pseudomyxoma cases), I even like calling myself a gynecologist.
I'd like to know anyone else's thoughts on this decision. Maybe I should consider switching to a more amiable General Surg program? Are there any malignant gyn programs out there I should avoid?
I thought the salaries for a general surgeon vs. an ob/gyn are pretty similar....correct me if i am wrong. Make sure you speak with practicing ob/gyn's and ob/gyn residents who are on other rotations besides just gyn/onc and get their take on it, esp. concerning prgms.. What year in GS residency are you? Good luck.
First of all I must tell you and I am not lying to you.. your schedule will not be better as an OBGYN... you wont be a crabby surgeon but you will be a crabby gynecologist I have never met a content and happy obgyn. they alll hate life and their jobs more than any other specialty that i have met.. Surgeons are unhappy.. but not as much as obgyn.. Im speaking from private practice experience. do some real research before you make the switch. Find out if you wanna spend your life waiting for a lady to deliver..
Sounds like you need to do more research...your reasons are as follows:
1) Happiness- well, I can't argue with this one, as I am a happy ob/gyn. But, there are lots of reasons to be unhappy in this specialty!
2) More control of your schedule- pure fantasy. Ob/gyn call is certainly as busy as general surgery. Rarely do you get any rest at all on call. One laboring patient can ruin your night. In this field, the private docs routinely rotate call with 2-4 partners, meaning call q 2-4 for the rest of your life. And, frequently, that call means you are in house.
3) love to operate-fine, but if you really love to operate, you will do more of it as a general surgeon. I agree that operating is fun, but I do like the short cases, and I don't like to spend all day every day in the OR. But, if you love to operate, and that is what you want to do, as a general surgeon, you will do more of it.
As far as salaries go, I think you should look into it a bit more. Per the salary comparison's I have seen, Ob/Gyn and General Surgery are very, very close.
I may be insane, but basing a carreer change on a single nice experience on a gyn-onc rotation seems a bit rash. There are crappy ob/gyn programs just as there are crappy general surg programs. If you are miserable in your situation, and not your work, than the obvious choice is to change the situation-ie, find a new program that fits your personality better. By simply changing specialties, you run the very real risk of realizing that all of ob/gyn is not likely to be like your great gyn-onc experience, and being miserable yet again. But, if you know you like surgery, but you don't like the people or environment you are in now, simply change the part you don't like.
Best of luck
1) Happiness- well, I can't argue with this one, as I am a happy ob/gyn. But, there are lots of reasons to be unhappy in this specialty!
2) More control of your schedule- pure fantasy. Ob/gyn call is certainly as busy as general surgery. Rarely do you get any rest at all on call. One laboring patient can ruin your night. In this field, the private docs routinely rotate call with 2-4 partners, meaning call q 2-4 for the rest of your life. And, frequently, that call means you are in house.
3) love to operate-fine, but if you really love to operate, you will do more of it as a general surgeon. I agree that operating is fun, but I do like the short cases, and I don't like to spend all day every day in the OR. But, if you love to operate, and that is what you want to do, as a general surgeon, you will do more of it.
As far as salaries go, I think you should look into it a bit more. Per the salary comparison's I have seen, Ob/Gyn and General Surgery are very, very close.
I may be insane, but basing a carreer change on a single nice experience on a gyn-onc rotation seems a bit rash. There are crappy ob/gyn programs just as there are crappy general surg programs. If you are miserable in your situation, and not your work, than the obvious choice is to change the situation-ie, find a new program that fits your personality better. By simply changing specialties, you run the very real risk of realizing that all of ob/gyn is not likely to be like your great gyn-onc experience, and being miserable yet again. But, if you know you like surgery, but you don't like the people or environment you are in now, simply change the part you don't like.
Best of luck
Thanks very much for the thoughtful replies.
Maybe someone could explain to me how call works as an OB consultant. If I work in a large group practice, isn't there a group of people to switch OB call with me? I don't mind being on-call for 24 hours, just not 7 days a week.
This may sound too altruistic, even after two years of general surgery residency, but I want to work in a poor intercity clinic for the underserved. Right now, my patients are rich, overserved, and very ill. For some reason, it disgusts me. I have a goal of serving in a poor intercity practice and have never heard of a intercity surgery clinic for the poor.
My decision to switch is not only based on my unhappiness in general surgery but also on my 3rd year clerkship in OB/Gyn. I like hysterectomies, small procedures, caring for younger and more healthy patients, and working with a group of physicians that are less anal retentive. I see myself being more happy working in a clinic for the needy.
Maybe someone could explain to me how call works as an OB consultant. If I work in a large group practice, isn't there a group of people to switch OB call with me? I don't mind being on-call for 24 hours, just not 7 days a week.
This may sound too altruistic, even after two years of general surgery residency, but I want to work in a poor intercity clinic for the underserved. Right now, my patients are rich, overserved, and very ill. For some reason, it disgusts me. I have a goal of serving in a poor intercity practice and have never heard of a intercity surgery clinic for the poor.
My decision to switch is not only based on my unhappiness in general surgery but also on my 3rd year clerkship in OB/Gyn. I like hysterectomies, small procedures, caring for younger and more healthy patients, and working with a group of physicians that are less anal retentive. I see myself being more happy working in a clinic for the needy.
Maybe I'm alone in this but I think it's a great switch. I for one had similar considerations as a medical student deciding btw surg and ob. And I chose ob for the same reasons that you listed and have found them to be true! everyone likes to dump on ob/gyn's but the fact is, there ARE alot of happy ones and many programs do have respectful people just as you described. it's a big family because you spend so much time together...even with the nurses. Also, if you specialize in gyn-onc, the pay is actually MORE than a gen. surg. as for call, I know attendings that only take call once a month (but of course you have to be willing to take a pay cut) the point is, if the minimum is once a month, you can surely make it once a week or whatever you like. and swtiching call is also very common since there seems to be a lot more women in the practice these days and many have family obligations and understand the need for switching. then again, i've also seen surgery attendings with very flexible schedules, you just need to earn your senority first. i think you should apply at various programs in both fields to find a good fit. talk to surgery attendings before you switch though, as it is a hug decision and maybe life's not that bad. because maybe as residents, we don't see the light at the end of the tunnel well.
best of luck!
best of luck!
How can you take call q30 as an OBGYN? There would have to be coverage for your pts by someone else 29/30 days a month. Unless there is a hospitalist OBGYN or residency program to which you hand all your pts, I don't understand how this could work. I considered OBGYN strongly, but have chosen medicine. The delivery, to me, was the whole point of obstetrics. I mean, anyone can fill out the ACOG worklist. Still feeling the baby move? Any cramps? Loss of fluid or bleeding? A blindfolded, one armed sleeping monkey could do a prenatal visit. I just don't see why someone would do OBGYN and not deliver babies more than one day a month. If surgery appeals that much to you, then do Gen Surgery.
