Gyn Onc?

[Medstudent1874]

MS3 on OBGyn and enjoying it a lot!

What's the deal with gyn onc? Seems super competitive to get into, but is that the case from top residencies as well? And does it seem like gyn oncs will continue to manage chemo as well as surgery into the future?

Thanks!

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[jrlob91]

MS3 on OBGyn and enjoying it a lot!

What's the deal with gyn onc? Seems super competitive to get into, but is that the case from top residencies as well? And does it seem like gyn oncs will continue to manage chemo as well as surgery into the future?

Thanks!

Ob/Gyn fellowships can be among the most competitive subspecialties. Gyn onc is one of the worst offenders, with the average matched the last 4-5 years being around 67%. http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Results-and-Data-SMS-2018.pdf before applying to residencies, I would recommend doing some research into their fellowship match rate, etc. You also may get more advice on the OB specific thread, although that forum is notoriously dead usually.

 

[Redpancreas]

MS3 on OBGyn and enjoying it a lot!

What's the deal with gyn onc? Seems super competitive to get into, but is that the case from top residencies as well? And does it seem like gyn oncs will continue to manage chemo as well as surgery into the future?

Thanks!

Kind of random but GYN-Onc was on my list of ideal subspecialties along with IM procedural fields, Urology, and GYN/Onc.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

MS3 on OBGyn and enjoying it a lot!

What's the deal with gyn onc? Seems super competitive to get into, but is that the case from top residencies as well? And does it seem like gyn oncs will continue to manage chemo as well as surgery into the future?

Thanks!

Not a gyn onc, but did obgyn residency and in urogyn fellowship which has similar match rates.

Above poster is correct all obgyn fellowships are notoriously competitive especially the surgical ones, usually onc>=eri>=uro. Being from a top residency helps some, but you most definitely need at least one decent first author publication (many applicants have more) great inservice exam scores, and great letters of recommendation.

As for the future, there are already many oncologists at big cancer centers that are only doing surgery and Med oncs managing chemo, though (to my knowedge) most gyn oncs still do their own chemotherapy so it may continue to be practice dependent and remain as it is now.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

Not a gyn onc, but did obgyn residency and in urogyn fellowship which has similar match rates.

Above poster is correct all obgyn fellowships are notoriously competitive especially the surgical ones, usually onc>=eri>=uro. Being from a top residency helps some, but you most definitely need at least one decent first author publication (many applicants have more) great inservice exam scores, and great letters of recommendation.

As for the future, there are already many oncologists at big cancer centers that are only doing surgery and Med oncs managing chemo, though (to my knowedge) most gyn oncs still do their own chemotherapy so it may continue to be practice dependent and remain as it is now.

Is the competitiveness due to reimbursement, being able to own your own patients and surgical nature of the job? Because it seems like lifestyle really isn't that great for gyn onc isn't it? I'm interested in FM, but OBGYN has been on my list of wonders.

 

[Medstudent1874]

Is the competitiveness due to reimbursement, being able to own your own patients and surgical nature of the job? Because it seems like lifestyle really isn't that great for gyn onc isn't it? I'm interested in FM, but OBGYN has been on my list of wonders.

On that note, is the attending lifestyle as bad as I've heard it is?

 

[Medstudent1874]

Not a gyn onc, but did obgyn residency and in urogyn fellowship which has similar match rates.

Above poster is correct all obgyn fellowships are notoriously competitive especially the surgical ones, usually onc>=eri>=uro. Being from a top residency helps some, but you most definitely need at least one decent first author publication (many applicants have more) great inservice exam scores, and great letters of recommendation.

As for the future, there are already many oncologists at big cancer centers that are only doing surgery and Med oncs managing chemo, though (to my knowedge) most gyn oncs still do their own chemotherapy so it may continue to be practice dependent and remain as it is now.

Interesting. Any idea why it is that gyn onc manages chemo to begin with? I've never heard of any other surgical specialties that even consider doing such a thing.

 

[Cyphix]

I'd guess it's very institution dependent whether the Gyn Onc manages chemotherapy. I would imagine at the large, specialized cancer centers it's the Med Oncs who handle it. I'm at one of these centers now, and that's how it's done here.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

I'm at an NCI center in the NE, and the med onc handles all the chemo.

But the cancer surgery in gyn onc is quiet amazing. These guys and gals do some of the coolest surgeries I've ever seen and they are great abdominal surgeons believe it or not.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

I think it’s mostly historical, there was limited chemo option when the field was coming into existence and people just sort of continued doing that.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Yeah Gyn-Onc can do basic chemo, mostly in smaller places (Carbo/Taxol is pretty much the go-to for all things Gyn if they're getting chemo alone), but for more complex stuff (especially metastatic/platinum resistant patients) I imagine patient would benefit more from seeing a true med-onc.

Their surgeries are routinely very big whacks, especially the ovarian cancer debulking stuff. Very cool field in terms of surgical exposure, as long as you can handle doing the benign Gyn crap that walks through the door as well (or you have a dedicated benign Gyn person). I don't really trust OB/Gyns to be as adept at intraabdominal surgery as surgeons, but I would certainly trust every gyn-onc I've met for large intraabdominal surgeries. I think the extra (2 I think?) year(s) of purely surgical training is a strong benefit.

As well as the fact that the selection process is generally the best of the interested Ob/Gyn residents are the ones who match into the fellowship.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Yeah Gyn-Onc can do basic chemo, mostly in smaller places (Carbo/Taxol is pretty much the go-to for all things Gyn if they're getting chemo alone), but for more complex stuff (especially metastatic/platinum resistant patients) I imagine patient would benefit more from seeing a true med-onc.

Their surgeries are routinely very big whacks, especially the ovarian cancer debulking stuff. Very cool field in terms of surgical exposure, as long as you can handle doing the benign Gyn crap that walks through the door as well (or you have a dedicated benign Gyn person). I don't really trust OB/Gyns to be as adept at intraabdominal surgery as surgeons, but I would certainly trust every gyn-onc I've met for large intraabdominal surgeries. I think the extra (2 I think?) year(s) of purely surgical training is a strong benefit.

As well as the fact that the selection process is generally the best of the interested Ob/Gyn residents are the ones who match into the fellowship.

gyn onc fellowships (and all ACGME gyn fellowships) are 3 years and some a and they are among the best surgeons in the hospital; same as with chemo, at bigger places the complicated benign surgery is being handled more and more by urogyns and minimally invasive and oncs are doing only malignant stuff (given the drop in surgical volume they may want to hang on tight to the chemo stuff)

For the record I’m at a big tertiary center and our oncologists routinely administer chemo for recurrent and platinum resistant cancers, though I’m sure at places like MDA and MSKCC gyn oncs only do Surgery, but it’s all volume dependent.

 

[Medstudent1874]

gyn onc fellowships (and all ACGME gyn fellowships) are 3 years and some a and they are among the best surgeons in the hospital; same as with chemo, at bigger places the complicated benign surgery is being handled more and more by urogyns and minimally invasive and oncs are doing only malignant stuff (given the drop in surgical volume they may want to hang on tight to the chemo stuff)

For the record I’m at a big tertiary center and our oncologists routinely administer chemo for recurrent and platinum resistant cancers, though I’m sure at places like MDA and MSKCC gyn oncs only do Surgery, but it’s all volume dependent.

Very interesting, thanks for the reply! Any idea what kind of post-op follow up the gyn oncs have with their patients at centers where med oncs manage chemo? A lot of my interest in gyn onc is the amazing post op management they have with patients.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Very interesting, thanks for the reply! Any idea what kind of post-op follow up the gyn oncs have with their patients at centers where med oncs manage chemo? A lot of my interest in gyn onc is the amazing post op management they have with patients.

They have very long term follow up (several years) for surveillance of recurrence even in patients who don’t need chemo. If that’s you’re primary interest there are other surgical specialties that have long term follow up

 

[Psai]

Kind of random but GYN-Onc was on my list of ideal subspecialties along with IM procedural fields, Urology, and GYN/Onc.

What is the difference between gyn-onc and gyn/onc

 

[Redpancreas]

What is the difference between gyn-onc and gyn/onc

Lolz