Male Interested in OB/GYN

[JDoc9]

I am simply a mere pre-med student, but I already have a strong interest in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The mix of being some what of a primary care physician, helping pregnant women/families through their pregnancies and ultimately delivering a new member of the family, and performing very interesting surgeries make me feel as though this is the perfect specialty for me. In addition to previous pro's, I am very interested in the sub-specialties that OB/GYN has to offer, mainly REI and MFM.

My questions are: Do I truly face an uphill battle being a Male OB/GYN? Are things really that bad? All of the OB/GYN's I know are males(and very successful), but they are older, hence from a generation different from ours(lack of females going into medicine). Also, would doing a fellowship diminish these problems(if they do exist)? I feel as though the main problems women have with male OB/GYN's is the "annual check up" things(pelvic exam, pap smear, etc.), but having a male doctor would not be an issue when facing a high-risk pregnancy/seeing a doctor for infertility issues, IVF, etc.

Thank you very much in advance for your responses.

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[Biology101]

YES

You can! I had the exact same thoughts, and I am now on OBGYN audition rotations. Search my name and you ll find several threads on the issue.

 

[SnoopyMD]

Agreed! I'm currently applying for the c/o 2018 and I'm interested in ob/gyn. The physician I shadowed was a male ob/gyn and it didn't seem to be a problem for him. At this point in time, I'd be interested in subspecializing in gyn onc, FWIW.

 

[LIDO]

Absolutely. At my institution our top OBGYN physicians are males. Do some jobs prefer females? Yes. Will you be able to find a job? Yes. Just be intelligent, empathetic, and listen to your patients. It's all about the patient-doctor relationship.

 

[michaelrack]

I notice no private practice ob-gyn's (or residents with some knowledge of the private practice employment situation) have encouraged the OP to go into Ob/gyn

 

[LIDO]

There are plenty of private practice male OBGYN practitioners. This forum is pretty .... slow .... to say the least and the thread was posted one day ago. The fact that a PP OBGYN has not posted is not surprising. My top mentor is a male PP OBGYN and he is also the most difficult OBGYN to make an appt with in the area. It's all about skill, personality, and intelligence.

 

[Moosemilk86]

I'm also a male going into Ob/Gyn and currently doing a Sub-I. It seems that ears perk up when I mention that I want to go into the field.

 

[Trogghunter]

I have no idea why you'd want to do ob/gyn as a male. To me, its like being a car collector but working as a car crusher operator.

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[anonperson]

Speaking as a senior resident, it may be an issue in private practice. It's just a nature of the game. There will be a certain subset of your patient population that will not want to see a male provider period. There's really not much you can do about it. If you are set on doing OB, just understand that it's out there but you should be able to do fine in private practice.

Being a subspecialist cuts down on this issue fairly significantly in MFM, Urogyn, Gyn Onc, and REI.

 

[residencycoord]

I am so glad that the posters on this thread (with the exception of one) are being supportive. There is plenty of room for male applicants. There are also plenty of women who will see a male and not give it a second thought. Please do not let anyone try and talk you out of it because of your gender. Males are welcome!

 

[sia_simba]

Males are welcome in OBGYN.

However, it depends on the subset of population, location, social economic status, and availability of other obgyn providers.

Of course if you are good physician you will get patients. But we are not speaking of the top 1% Male obgyn providers. We are or at least I am assuming an average OBGYN.

It will be difficult. Usually if you start up a private practice in a competitive area, it will take you about 1-2 years to build a good strong practice as a male. You would also have to work odd hours such as, being open on weekends, or work late into the evening in order to get some of your initial patient.

I was doing private practice in Queens, NY, also participating in practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY. I have colleagues who are males, but in terms of job hiring, females goes quicker. That is just the nature of the job.

I did have plenty of job opportunities after graduating from residency, but opening a private practice is a totally different thing. Plus, most jobs now will give you salary for 2 years and then everything will be RVUs. So keep that in mind.

 

[THP]

I don't think you will have a problem. It really depends on where you want to go. If you want to be in a city that is saturated with physicians it will be more difficult. A place such as San Diego, CA or maybe NY. I had absolutely no difficulty finding jobs after residency. I had practices seeking me out. Most of them were specifically looking to hire men, especially men who are married with children.

Where I live it takes about 5 years to have a thriving practice for men. Probably faster for women. I do not work weekends or late at night in the office. Obviously I take OB call.

 

[THP]

That's interesting. I am an older pre-med in the application cycle for 2014. I know its very early for me to be considering OB/GYN but you bring up a good point. I would like to stay in the Northeast (Phila., NJ, NY) area. Do males in this area have it tougher due to physician saturation?

Also, does being a successful OB necessitate having a family and children? Is this a known factor for success in the field? It sounds kind of like a Dr. Cosby anecdote, but I could see it being true.

Any advice is appreciated.

I don't know enough about that particular part of the country to say for sure.

For a male I think having a wife and kids definitely helps, especially in general OB/Gyn. I don't know if there are any studies confirming this. Many women are nervous enough seeing a man, but if he is young and single that makes it even more uncomfortable, but of course it's not required.

 

[pathstudent]

I am simply a mere pre-med student, but I already have a strong interest in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The mix of being some what of a primary care physician, helping pregnant women/families through their pregnancies and ultimately delivering a new member of the family, and performing very interesting surgeries make me feel as though this is the perfect specialty for me. In addition to previous pro's, I am very interested in the sub-specialties that OB/GYN has to offer, mainly REI and MFM.

My questions are: Do I truly face an uphill battle being a Male OB/GYN? Are things really that bad? All of the OB/GYN's I know are males(and very successful), but they are older, hence from a generation different from ours(lack of females going into medicine). Also, would doing a fellowship diminish these problems(if they do exist)? I feel as though the main problems women have with male OB/GYN's is the "annual check up" things(pelvic exam, pap smear, etc.), but having a male doctor would not be an issue when facing a high-risk pregnancy/seeing a doctor for infertility issues, IVF, etc.

Thank you very much in advance for your responses.

I'd say yes you do face an uphill battle. There have been mutiple articles in the NYT etc..about the trend and preference for all female gyn practices and just from my own experience at a huge academic A+ medical center where every one of the 25-30 gyn residents were female. Clearly that has to premeditated decision to only hire female residents.

Yes there are male obs walking around but a lot of thema are 50+ and hence from the prior generation.

 

[LIDO]

I'd say yes you do face an uphill battle. There have been mutiple articles in the NYT etc..about the trend and preference for all female gyn practices and just from my own experience at a huge academic A+ medical center where every one of the 25-30 gyn residents were female. Clearly that has to premeditated decision to only hire female residents.

Yes there are male obs walking around but a lot of thema are 50+ and hence from the prior generation.

According to the residents at my institution, graduating male OBGYN residents are sought after. They add diversity, work longer hours, and take less leave. Some people don't like those facts, but it's true. Is this the case for every practice? No. Will you have trouble coming from a solid program landing a general OBGYN job during this primary care physician shortage? No. Pretty sure your options would be a lot more limited other places (radiology, pathology, anesthesiology) in big cities.

 

[residencycoord]

Please do not listen to pathstudent. Male obgyn residents never have a problem finding jobs. I wish someone would stop this nonsense and stop trying to talk male students out of going into obgyn. Enough already.

 

[LIDO]

Please do not listen to pathstudent. Male obgyn residents never have a problem finding jobs. I wish someone would stop this nonsense and stop trying to talk male students out of going into obgyn. Enough already.

Thank you! 100% agree. We have so many male residents and they do phenomenally well - job wise, fellowship wise, location wise, and salary wise. Just be a devoted, intelligent, and thoughtful physician and things will work out.