Gynecology

[gary5]

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When I was applying to med schools, there was one school where I listed gynecology as an area of interest. (What kind of male premed student wants to be a gynecologist? Obviously a pervert. LOL.) Anyway, when I interviewed there, both my interviewers were female and one was a gynecologist. So, the adcoms probably wanted to weed out this weirdo. Anyway, both interviews went well, I was accepted to that school, and now attend there. Ironically, though, OB/GYN is not very high on my list right now, although I haven't rotated yet.

 

[Vvandenn]

Congrats!

 

[coffeebythelake]

So why did you list gynecology as your area of interest? 🙄

 

[gary5]

So why did you list gynecology as your area of interest? 🙄

I enjoy working with females in general, and so that was my thinking at the time. Actually, one of my areas of interest is peds, and they are typically females that bring theirs kids in. Anyway, I took a specialty profile and OB/GYN was at the very bottom of my list, and so that has caused me to think less about it. However, when I rotate, then I'll have a better idea.

 

[chad5871]

Anyway, I took a specialty profile and OB/GYN was at the very bottom of my list, and so that has caused me to think less about it. However, when I rotate, then I'll have a better idea.

Seriously, this is no reason to disregard a specialty if you're truly interested in it. Like you said yourself, you'll have a better idea once you rotate. I took a similar profile and it said the best specialty for me is aerospace medicine. 😱 I don't even know WTH that is!

 

[Shpamme]

I'm glad it worked out for you! I agree--that's no reason to exclude a field of interest. Props to you though for already starting to think about what you want to do!
Hehe.. I don't think it's a *bad* thing at all for men to be gynecologists, especially ones (like yourself) who are obviously not perverts. But I do know as a woman, I feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of seeing a female obgyn. Hmmmm..then again, I know plenty of women who don't mind seeing a male obgyn. Hehe.. I wonder if there is a similar hesitation among some men about women proctologists. Actually, taking that a step back, I wonder how many female proctologists there are.

I'd heard mixed opinions about expressing a preference (the idea being it could change once you go through med school, and bceause you don't want to come across as already being too dead set on one thing). So this is great news that it worked for you. Thanks for sharing your experience! I was just wondering--when you applied, did the appplication force you to pick a preference? Or was it just something you expressed sua sponte?

I always wanted to state my interest in correcting birth defects somehow (formed through research and volunteering activities), but I wasn't sure if it would come across too narrow or something.

 

[Cirrus83]

HENTAI! HENTAI!!!!
(that would be PERVERT! PERVERT!!!! in Japanese)

 

[Shpamme]

Haha..cirrus83, check your avatar before you post..

(Totally just kidding.. =)

 

[gary5]

I'm glad it worked out for you! I agree--that's no reason to exclude a field of interest. Props to you though for already starting to think about what you want to do!
Hehe.. I don't think it's a *bad* thing at all for men to be gynecologists, especially ones (like yourself) who are obviously not perverts. But I do know as a woman, I feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of seeing a female obgyn. Hmmmm..then again, I know plenty of women who don't mind seeing a male obgyn. Hehe.. I wonder if there is a similar hesitation among some men about women proctologists. Actually, taking that a step back, I wonder how many female proctologists there are.

I'd heard mixed opinions about expressing a preference (the idea being it could change once you go through med school, and bceause you don't want to come across as already being too dead set on one thing). So this is great news that it worked for you. Thanks for sharing your experience! I was just wondering--when you applied, did the appplication force you to pick a preference? Or was it just something you expressed sua sponte?

I always wanted to state my interest in correcting birth defects somehow (formed through research and volunteering activities), but I wasn't sure if it would come across too narrow or something.

It's funny you mention the female/male thing. I've known females who will only see a male gyne. Now, I'm not sure why you mentioned proctologists, since this really isn't a sex organ (for most people LOL)🙂 . I had a female primary physician for a few years and I'd feel comfortable telling/showing her anything. If I had to choose a urologist, gender wouldn't matter for me, although I grew up with male doctors and so I'm used to that. I just want someone who can fix whatever needs fixing.

In response to your question, it was a secondary application that asked what areas of medicine I was interested in. I listed dermatology, peds, and ob/gyn. In general, I'm a little political when I'm asked this question. If I'm at a peds office and they ask what I'm interested in, I say peds. When I rotate, I think I'll say that I'm interested in whatever area I'm rotating in. I wouldn't want to close any doors before I'm sure.

The field of correcting birth defects is actually very interesting. You might be interested in interventional cardiology. They're fixing heart defects in infants without surgery. For example, they can go in through a major artery/vein and place a device in a VSD (ventral septal defect) that pops open like an umbrella and fills the defect. No surgery needed! It's a very interesting field with lots of recent innovations. We can expect more and more procedures of every kind to be performed without opening the chest or abdomen. Less scarring, less risk of infection, less trauma, etc, etc.

 

[gary5]

HENTAI! HENTAI!!!!
(that would be PERVERT! PERVERT!!!! in Japanese)

Wow, I never knew what Hentai meant! Although, wiki says that it means adult material. I thought it meant "cartoon" or something like that.

 

[Hurricane95]

Funny...10-15 years ago almost ALL ob/gyn's were men. Now the wave has shifted to women in the specialty and suddenly all women gasp at the thought of being seen by men. If you look around the hospital, there are still tons of old school gynos in their 40's and up, and middle-aged thru menopausal women who swear by them. As a matter of fact I've heard many women say they prefer men because they are more sensitive to their problems...women gynos (since they endure the same trials and tribulations as their patients) tend to have a rougher, "suck it up" attitude to their patients. Hot flashes? Yeah, I get those too...TS. PMS? Don't go there. Childbirth? Aw, come on....it doesnt hurt that much, quit your whining. I really don't understand what all the fuss and shock is about men entering the specialty. Big deal. Grow up people, we're going to be doctors..."private parts" shouldn't be embarassing or OMG anymore. And no, men who enter the field are not perverts or doing it to see female genitalia all day in order to get off. Any man who does that is pathetic and undeserving of his degree.

For the record, I shadowed a male ob/gyn extensively during undergrad and no, am not interested in the specialty myself. I just get irritated by this strange, new and somewhat idiotic viewpoint. Gender of your doc shouldnt matter...only thing that does is that he/she is damn good at what they do and can treat you right. Period.

 

[Hurricane95]

OP, while I agree it's great to start thinking early on about what you may want to do in the future, don't start throwing options out yet. Wait til your rotations before you come to hasty conclusions. And dont let dumb stigmas get in the way of what you want to do....if you want to look at female reproductive machinery all day, more power to you. If you are a good doc, you will have enough patients to keep you busy.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I wanted to throw my 0.02 in as an M3 who loved his Ob/Gyn rotation (Disclaimer: I am not going to do it for a living). I think after doing yours you will realize a few things about Ob.

1. There is no other specialty like it. I mean lets face it, Surg/Plastics, Medicine/EM, Peds/MedPeds/FP are all fields with a great deal of overlap. Ob is in a different world like Anesthesia, Radiology etc. If you love it, there's not really anywhere else to go. If you're a guy who loves it, there isn't something similar that is more "guy-friendly" that you can jump to.

2. Ob is one of the few fields in medicine where you get to deal almost exclusively with healthy patients. After doing IM you will see the value of that.

 

[Green Pirate]

im fine with blood, guts, gore and all that good stuff... but I'm afraid that I will feel pretty awkward when I first rotate through ob/gyn.

 

[Shpamme]

For the record, I shadowed a male ob/gyn extensively during undergrad and no, am not interested in the specialty myself. I just get irritated by this strange, new and somewhat idiotic viewpoint. Gender of your doc shouldnt matter...only thing that does is that he/she is damn good at what they do and can treat you right. Period.

I agree with you that if you have a condition, all that should matter is getting the best treatment. But especially for people of different cultures, there may be a stigma in terms of talking to a male. I can also think of this being an issue with younger teenage women, or who are not sexually active and have never had a man view them sans clothes before.

As physicians I think we'd have to respect these preferences, because to get the best treatment, the patient has to be willing to open up. And that's something that even a male OBGYN with the BEST bedside manner may not be able to get a female patient to do, if the female patient feels uncomfortable talking to a man for one of the above reasons.

I'm not at all trying to say, based on the above, that males shouldn't enter the profession. There are plenty of women who feel comfortable going to a male, and I'd say 99.9% of male OBGYNs are totally not perverts at all and are entirely competent. So for those groups, it's a perfect match.

Gary 5--interventional cardiology sounds so cool!! I will definitely look into it. And I stand corrected about the proctologist thing.. =)

 

[Winged Scapula]

Just as an aside, there really isn't a specialty called "proctology".

You can be a gastroenterologist who does colonoscopies as part of his practice and see patients with colorectal complaints.

You can be a colorectal surgeon who does c-scopes and also operates on people with colorectal diseases.

You can be an internist or FP who does in-office flex sigs.

As far as gastroenterology and colorectal surgery, these are fairly popular with women - good lifestyles, good money, interesting diseases and research.

 

[ryanl]

Wow, I never knew what Hentai meant! Although, wiki says that it means adult material. I thought it meant "cartoon" or something like that.

LOL I think we know what type of cartoons you're watching.

 

[Auron]

LOL I think we know what type of cartoons you're watching.

cue purple tentacles...

 

[foofish]

As physicians I think we'd have to respect these preferences, because to get the best treatment, the patient has to be willing to open up. And that's something that even a male OBGYN with the BEST bedside manner may not be able to get a female patient to do, if the female patient feels uncomfortable talking to a man for one of the above reasons.

I was thinking about the poll that was recently floating around on that subject, and while now I don't really have a preference between a male/female Ob/Gyn, as a young teenager dragged in by my mother for my first gyn exam, I most certainly would have thrown a *fit* over having a male doctor do the exam...

 

[Shpamme]

Just as an aside, there really isn't a specialty called "proctology".

You can be a gastroenterologist who does colonoscopies as part of his practice and see patients with colorectal complaints.

You can be a colorectal surgeon who does c-scopes and also operates on people with colorectal diseases.

You can be an internist or FP who does in-office flex sigs.

As far as gastroenterology and colorectal surgery, these are fairly popular with women - good lifestyles, good money, interesting diseases and research.

Again, I totally stand corrected..feeling dumb but learned something =)

 

[gary5]

Again, I totally stand corrected..feeling dumb but learned something =)

Don't feel bad. I didn't know that either. I thought proctology was a specialty. Hence, the term "proctologist". 🙂

 

[gary5]

I was thinking about the poll that was recently floating around on that subject, and while now I don't really have a preference between a male/female Ob/Gyn, as a young teenager dragged in by my mother for my first gyn exam, I most certainly would have thrown a *fit* over having a male doctor do the exam...

Wow, I hadn't really thought of that...

 

[tch001]

I've been to both a really bad male gyno and a really bad female gyno, so I don't have a preference. I prefer anyone who is considerate, caring, and will get the job done without being judgemental/crazy. I'm definitely considering OB/GYN as a potential specialty, in part because I think I could do a much better job than the 1st two I went to. I put down OB/GYN as a possible specialty on a few schools secondaries, and most schools didn't ask about it.