OB/GYN Lifestyle Questions

[repoetic]

Hi everyone! I"m an M1 interested in OB/GYN and I wanted to get a better understanding of what I could expect. I apologize if my questions are naive! I'm still exploring specialties and am just curious about some aspects of OB/GYN.

I'd like to operate a solo practice one day, but I know there are some hurdles to this. My understanding is that I'll mostly be limited to GYN because of how hard securing malpractice coverage for obstetrics is. Would it be a feasible plan to operate a GYN solo practice? I'd be happy working in a rural or urban area.

If operating a solo practice, what would the call schedule be like? How far am I allowed to be away from the clinic on call days? How often would I probably be coming in on call days? Is it possible to find coverage from other physicians in the area if I'm out of town?

I really appreciate your guys' insight!

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[anonperson]

Hi everyone! I"m an M1 interested in OB/GYN and I wanted to get a better understanding of what I could expect. I apologize if my questions are naive! I'm still exploring specialties and am just curious about some aspects of OB/GYN.

I'd like to operate a solo practice one day, but I know there are some hurdles to this. My understanding is that I'll mostly be limited to GYN because of how hard securing malpractice coverage for obstetrics is. Would it be a feasible plan to operate a GYN solo practice? I'd be happy working in a rural or urban area.

If operating a solo practice, what would the call schedule be like? How far am I allowed to be away from the clinic on call days? How often would I probably be coming in on call days? Is it possible to find coverage from other physicians in the area if I'm out of town?

I really appreciate your guys' insight!

It is possible to do a solo practice that is GYN only but not common when starting out. Difficult to generate the volume and the procedures don't generate that much revenue.

You can absolutely secure malpractice coverage as a solo doc doing Obstetrics.

People are still doing this.

Regarding call coverage rules. If you have hospital privileges, their bylaws will guide you. For example, one hospital I am at requires you to have a backup in order to maintain privileges.

If on call, have to be able to get to the hospital within a set period of time. Usually 30 minutes etc.

If doing only gyn, the call burden is less.

Is being a solo OBGYN still a thing? Yes. It has its challenges but some people swear by it. It's just not common because it's a pain to do Obstetrics call on your own.

If doing gyn only, you will have challenges getting started but it can be possible in the right environment. May need to do locums etc to generate income early on.

 

[repoetic]

It is possible to do a solo practice that is GYN only but not common when starting out. Difficult to generate the volume and the procedures don't generate that much revenue.

You can absolutely secure malpractice coverage as a solo doc doing Obstetrics.

People are still doing this.

Regarding call coverage rules. If you have hospital privileges, their bylaws will guide you. For example, one hospital I am at requires you to have a backup in order to maintain privileges.

If on call, have to be able to get to the hospital within a set period of time. Usually 30 minutes etc.

If doing only gyn, the call burden is less.

Is being a solo OBGYN still a thing? Yes. It has its challenges but some people swear by it. It's just not common because it's a pain to do Obstetrics call on your own.

If doing gyn only, you will have challenges getting started but it can be possible in the right environment. May need to do locums etc to generate income early on.

Thank you! This was helpful. So, if I'm interested in only doing GYN on an outpatient basis at a clinic, how would that work? Am I still required to have hospital privileges and 24-7 call coverage? How far could I be from the clinic on call days in that case? Thank you for your help!

 

[anonperson]

Thank you! This was helpful. So, if I'm interested in only doing GYN on an outpatient basis at a clinic, how would that work? Am I still required to have hospital privileges and 24-7 call coverage? How far could I be from the clinic on call days in that case? Thank you for your help!

If you are just doing clinic, then you don't need inpatient privileges.

Once you start to operate, especially at a hospital , you will typically need a back up officially on file.

 

[repoetic]

If you are just doing clinic, then you don't need inpatient privileges.

Once you start to operate, especially at a hospital , you will typically need a back up officially on file.

Thank you! One last question. How often would a solo practice GYN have to go into a hospital? Do you think it would be possible to practice solely in a clinical setting?

 

[repoetic]

If anyone has any thoughts on the above question, I’d appreciate the insight! I’m curious how often I would likely have to go into a hospital doing GYN only in a solo practice.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Thank you! One last question. How often would a solo practice GYN have to go into a hospital? Do you think it would be possible to practice solely in a clinical setting?

It depends. If you’re strictly doing outpatient gyn, paps, EMB office, hysteroscopy etc and not seeing patients in hospital then you never have to go. If you’re offering inpatient consults then you’re going in as often as a consult. If you plan to offer full spectrum gyn then depends on the hospital and how often you have patients admitted and are asked to see consults, etc.

If you’re plan is to do only outpatient gyn, you can honesty just do that through FM or IM and a womens health fellowship. You would then be able to market yourself as full spectrum womens health: HRT mgmt, menopausal symptom mgmt, heart disease and cancer screenings etc. Obgyn residency is pretty grueling and you don’t actually get that much training in ambulatory gyn, most of your time is spent in the OR, L&D, and on inpatient services. Your own resident clinic will be mostly OB. I did one mont of outpatient gyn in my 4 year residency. I probably managed 3 peoples menopausal symptoms and I never once prescribed HRT as a resident.