OB/GYN vs BCFMO

[Tobirama]

Can anyone describe the differences between the two and the pros and cons of each?

I have a passion for family medicine and want to go into a family med residency, but I also have a passion for obstetrics. I feel that the Board of Certification in Family Medicine Obstetrics will allow me to practice family med while also allowing me to perform the more routine obstetrics surgeries. It seems like just an extra year of a fellowship after completing a family med residency which wouldn't be too bad in terms of time commitments.

On the other hand, if I were to become a OBGYN, I would give up family med, but I imagine I would be working with much higher acuity patients in the delivery room/OR. However, I would lose the opportunity as an OBGYN to be involved in family practice. This makes me lean more towards the BCFMO.

Does anyone have any experience with BCFMO? In terms of obstetrics, what are the limitations in practice and how do you balance your family med practice with your obstetrics practice?

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[Angus Avagadro]

The attending where my son is a resident left because the OB/Gyns would not allow them to do c sections. Although they were trained to do c sections and told initially they would be credentialed, it appears the OBs had a change of heart. I see this as nagging turf issue in the future between BCFMO and OBs. Something to consider. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[ciestar]

The attending where my son is a resident left because the OB/Gyns would not allow them to do c sections. Although they were trained to do c sections and told initially they would be credentialed, it appears the OBs had a change of heart. I see this as nagging turf issue in the future between BCFMO and OBs. Something to consider. Good luck and best wishes.

It is a thing at many programs i interviewed at as well. They’d just rather have the OB despite all the training.

 

[Tobirama]

The attending where my son is a resident left because the OB/Gyns would not allow them to do c sections. Although they were trained to do c sections and told initially they would be credentialed, it appears the OBs had a change of heart. I see this as nagging turf issue in the future between BCFMO and OBs. Something to consider. Good luck and best wishes.

Where your son was a resident, was that on the East coast? I heard that OBGYNs are more likely to look down on BCFMO on the east coast, and that the west coast is much more open to expanding such privileges.

 

[squat]

It's a turf battle all over the US.

I'm a family physician that delivers babies in Texas and there are very few FM-OB jobs here. They do exist, but not in cities over 1/2 a million and frequently not even in towns of under 200K. It all depends who runs/owns the hospital.

I've been contacted by recruiters for jobs in TX (of course), TN, OR, WA, CA, CO, UT, KS, MN, WI, NE, ND, TN, KY, and NC in the past couple of years. Not sure if that helps much.

I LOVE being a family doc! I would hate to give up my pediatric patients if I only did OB.

 

[Tenk]

Dunno why you’d give up the best parts of FM (bankers hours and low malpractice risk) for the worst parts of OB (random middle of the night call ins combined with the worst malpractice type cases).

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Where your son was a resident, was that on the East coast? I heard that OBGYNs are more likely to look down on BCFMO on the east coast, and that the west coast is much more open to expanding such privileges.

Yes

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Dunno why you’d give up the best parts of FM (bankers hours and low malpractice risk) for the worst parts of OB (random middle of the night call ins combined with the worst malpractice type cases).

Me too. You might get the best of OB, but you also get the worst. Any uncomplicated pregnancy can become a complicated one in a heartbeat

 

[AMEHigh]

So it seems like your passion is with FM, so I would certainly do that. Like others have said, doing OB with FM has unfortunately diminshed, but it’s not impossible to find. I’m on the east coast and I know some and there are several at our residency program. I do a lot of reproductive/women’s healthcare as an FM and I also do prenatal care, although I don’t do deliveries. Plus the lifestyle of FM is better So while it’s certainly not the same as doing deliveries or csections you can still do a lot of reproductive healthcare within FM and I love it!

 

[Tobirama]

So it seems like your passion is with FM, so I would certainly do that. Like others have said, doing OB with FM has unfortunately diminshed, but it’s not impossible to find. I’m on the east coast and I know some and there are several at our residency program. I do a lot of reproductive/women’s healthcare as an FM and I also do prenatal care, although I don’t do deliveries. Plus the lifestyle of FM is better So while it’s certainly not the same as doing deliveries or csections you can still do a lot of reproductive healthcare within FM and I love it!

Thanks for the input! I agree FM does have the advantage of a great work'life balance while still encompassing many aspects of reproductive care. Would love to be able to perform deliveries and c'sections without actually being solely an OBGYN but I need to face the facts that BCFMO are not quite as recognized as I´d like them to be.