Gyn Onc

[Firebird]

Hey guys--I was hoping for some info on Gyn Onc. I've been hard at work trying to decide what specialty to aim for, and I really liked my week on Gyn Onc. Now, I know a week doesn't tell you much--but--I love doing surgery and I love the office, too. I felt like Gyn Onc mixed the two fairly well, unlike General Surgery. I love surgery, but there's several reasons I don't want to do General Surgery. So having said that, I am wanting to know about the length of the fellowship, how competitive it is, salary, work hours, call, etc. etc. Basically anything you would want to know before you decide on a specialty. Thanks!

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[bellalou]

Hey guys--I was hoping for some info on Gyn Onc. I've been hard at work trying to decide what specialty to aim for, and I really liked my week on Gyn Onc. Now, I know a week doesn't tell you much--but--I love doing surgery and I love the office, too. I felt like Gyn Onc mixed the two fairly well, unlike General Surgery. I love surgery, but there's several reasons I don't want to do General Surgery. So having said that, I am wanting to know about the length of the fellowship, how competitive it is, salary, work hours, call, etc. etc. Basically anything you would want to know before you decide on a specialty. Thanks!

Hello - I am glad to hear that you are enjoying Gyn Onc! Just a word of caution - make sure that you like the obstetrics and other parts of the field. The beautiful surgeries in Onc can be alluring, but you may not be interested in the other aspects of OB/GYN. The OB/GYN residency is 4 years and all of the 'big four' (Onc, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Urogyn) fellowships are 3 years long. There are longer fellowships - MFM combined with Genetics (4-5 years) and shorter fellowships (Family Planning - 2 years - I think). All fellowships are rather competitive, but Onc is one of the most competitive with only 40-some spots available (approx 30% match rate). If you are interested, check out programs with strong Onc fellowships (like UAB ) since they will be able to help you get started with research and get connected in the field.

Good luck!

 

[happyob]

Good advice, you don't want to be miserable if you don't like OB and some people absolutely hate it. Gyn Onc is VERY competitive. You probably need some research and good projects, good LORs, etc Most fellows are 3 years except MD Anderson which is 4 years (2 years clinical and 2 years of research).

Good luck

 

[tiredmom]

Agree with above comments. About the lifestyle - the salary is good, but the lifestyle can be pretty difficult. They tend to be the only one in the area - so they are often on call for several days in a row (maybe different in bigger cities). I've got a distant family member who is a gyn onc - I didn't realize he was married to his wife for the first 10 years or so that we had family get togethers - never saw them together, always wondered who all those kids belonged to! They have pretty long hours.
That said - they seem to have some of the biggest hearts around - the guy here truly is the most loved attending at the school by his patients. They universally put hand to their chest and say "Oh, I just loooove Dr. Hall!"

 

[Firebird]

The description of your town's gyn onc sounds pretty much on par with ours. Everyone loves our guy, and it's just simply because he spends lots of time with each patient and treats them well. I am a little surprised to hear they take a lot of call, because our guy doesn't appear to work that many hours. We're small though, and the residents cover the service. But I can see how it might be bad if he was in private practice.

Thanks for the info. I am not in love with obstetrics, but I don't hate it either. I have heard that conventionally, the recent grads tend to deliver more babies while the older partners do more gyn/surgery. So even though I don't love obstetrics with a huge passion, I guess practice would only continue to get better with more surgeries. And actually I think I'll enjoy obstetrics even more as I get to do more of it, rather than just being the student who follows orders and watches more than actually doing anything.

 

[tiredmom]

I think its in the personality type that's been drawn to Gyn Onc to be REALLY involved. Ours rounds in the morning and again around 5-6 pm. The residents "run" the service, but nearly everything still goes through him.

If you decide that Gyn Onc is what you want to do - be sure to get research/published in early in your residency. I was told by 2 different PD that they had residents that didn't match to fellowships because their research projects weren't done until their 3rd year, when you typically apply, so they don't already have it published.

 

[Firebird]

That's an interesting point. Most people say unpublished research is good enough for residency program directors, but I guess that is not true for fellowships. And that makes sense, seeing as how it's step up in just about every aspect. Thanks!

 

[UCLAMAN]

It would be in your best interest to attend an OB/gyn residency program that also has a gyn-onc fellowship.

 

[mjzoey]

Hi. Here is the link to ABOG's website on different fellwships.
http://www.abog.org/app/app.html
For Gyn Onc, there are 40 approved programs, most of them are 3 years but there are handful of 4 year programs.
My school has 2 Gyn Onc, both are great surgeons and appropriately stressed out from time to time. I think they are on-call 24 hrs, at least over the phone, and the residents run the service. We tend to run with 1 o2 both gyn onc at 7 am, and the have 2 OR days each. And when they are not in the hospital, they could be reach via cell phones just in case. Don't know how much they get paid, but like with any other specialties, I feel like at acaemic institution, doc's tend to get paid lesser than private hospital docs.

Also, make sure that you like Ob/Gyn as a residency. Personally I like onc patients in general, but could not stand the idea of doing Internal medicine for 3 years then Heme/Onc. And I love Ob/Gyn, so I will see after the residency if I still have energy and drive to go through the fellowship .
Good luck

 

[strawberry1]

Do all gyn-oncs practice in academic centers? Are there options to work in private practice?

ALso, does any one have an idea of the salary? I always hear they are pretty well off but I find that hard to believe. Also, is there a significant difference in academic salaries if you work at hospital affliated with a public university versus a private school?