How come OBGYN isn't receiving any love?

[aspiringMD585]

Hello,

I don't understand why everyone looks down on being and OBGYN, where is all of this animosity coming from? For example, I've been interested in becoming an OBGYN ever since I was a child and throughout the years whenever I would tell people that I want to be an OB, the remarks are just alarming to me.
"Oh why do you want to work with women?"
"Eww, you better be prepared for the smelly ones"
...and just numerous remarks that are beyond asinine to me. Then I come here and look at the forum and it's barely any active posts. What's going on? Does everyone loathe OB and for what?

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[anonperson]

Long hours.
Stressful.
Malpractice awards can potentially be devastating.
Burnout is pretty common.
The residents can have reputations of being jerks although in my experience I think this is less common nowadays. Most residents are pretty chill.

The field itself is gaining somewhat of a resurgence with more people wanting to match into it.

Not sure why the forum is dead.

The lay public is generally immature regarding these things. If someone said they wanted to be a colorectal surgeon (aka proctologist), people would make a face even though it is an interesting and pretty awesome field.

 

[deleted480308]

work a few months of OB call and get back to us about how wonderful it is...

 

[radtopedi]

Hello,

I don't understand why everyone looks down on being and OBGYN, where is all of this animosity coming from? For example, I've been interested in becoming an OBGYN ever since I was a child and throughout the years whenever I would tell people that I want to be an OB, the remarks are just alarming to me.
"Oh why do you want to work with women?"
"Eww, you better be prepared for the smelly ones"
...and just numerous remarks that are beyond asinine to me. Then I come here and look at the forum and it's barely any active posts. What's going on? Does everyone loathe OB and for what?

OB/gyn is getting quite a bit of love these days. If you measure it by the number of people vs. spots it's more competitive than some of the ROAD specialties. However, some of the negative remarks from both the lay public and medical professionals exists, and that's pretty much par for the course. You'll find it for most fields and I wouldn't take it to seriously.

In my opinion ob/gyn and sub specialties are some of the most interesting fields out there with opportunities for cutting edge research, ability to do extremely complex surgery and opportunity for significan advocacy on a local, regional and national level.


If you like something and have weighed the positive and negatives then just do it, and let other people worry about themselves

 

[Mad Jack]

Ob/Gyn is a great field. Medicine, surgery, oncology, and delivering babies, all in one field- it's broad and interesting. But the long hours, malpractice, and reputation for program malignancy shies some people away. Also, it tends to be a more female-oriented field, so there goes a lot of the male demographic automatically (not because there is anything wrong with being a guy in the field, but guys tend to shy away from it).

 

[NWwildcat2013]

Don't let anyone talk you out of OBGYN if you love it. As others have mentioned, it is rare in that you get to do surgery and medicine. Some specialties like urology and ENT claim the same but their scope of medical pathology isn't as broad or interesting. In OBGYN you will treat almost everything because your patient population is basically 1/2 of the population. You will see things from oncology to endocrinology and birth to end of life care in advanced gynecological cancer. It is a uniquely rewarding field.

I'd do it in a heartbeat if it weren't for malpractice concerns. Someone please try to convince me that isn't a big deal. I want to remove that obstacle from my decision making process


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[THP]

I'm a practicing OB/GYN. Male. Love my job. Love my patients. Very happy with my decision of specialy.

Do note, as a male, you will make less money than your female colleagues. In no way am I going hungry and as a free-market capitalist I don't have a problem with it, but just be prepared for that reality.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

I'm a practicing OB/GYN. Male. Love my job. Love my patients. Very happy with my decision of specialy.

Do note, as a male, you will make less money than your female colleagues. In no way am I going hungry and as a free-market capitalist I don't have a problem with it, but just be prepared for that reality.

Why is that? Just because you are less busy?

 

[DOcJo]

In discussion with my medical mentor, an OB/Gyn attending, she mentioned that there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to malpractice. While malpractice is a valid concern, those who really need to worry are the physicians in private practice...which is becoming less and less common. In a major clinical setting, lawsuits and money usually fall on the backs of administration. Of course, it is something that should be considered when you are deciding which specialty you want to go into, it shouldn't make or break Ob/Gyn if that is something you really want to pursue.

 

[residencycoord]

I downloaded 749 applications on the first day of ERAS, so there is plenty of love out there for the field. Don't listen to naysayers. You will always find people who say negative things, but if you truly love the field and are willing to work hard, then go for it!