ob/gyn

[apple638]

I want to go into ob/gyn. My question is do I do an ob/gyn elective rotation at the hospital I'm interested in during my third year or the beginning of my fourth year?

I also wanted to know if it's true that ob/gyn residents do 36/hr shifts?

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[kak]

I'm just finishing out my 3rd yr... with OB/Gyn as my last rotation. During this past yr, I really didn't have a choice regarding my schedule... except whether I would prefer the semester with Internal Med/Neuro/Psych/Family or Surgery/Peds/OBGyn first or second. Even that held no guarantees.
Regardless, OB/Gyn is one of the required rotations during 3rd yr at pretty much every school (as far as I know)... don't worry you'll *definitely* have exposure to it.
I haven't had ANY electives during 3rd yr. During 4th yr we have to pick 2 sub-I's, 4 electives, and there is a required rural AHEC rotation.
As for the hours... yes, it's true. Even for students on call, actually. I'm required to take call 6 times during the 6 week rotation of OB/Gyn. On those days I am there from early morning until at least ~5PM the FOLLOWING day. So far, I've done 3 of these calls... 3 more to go. Can't wait til June 21, when it's all over.

 

[apple638]

I know that ob/gyn is a required rotation and I really don't have a choice when I'll take that rotation. That's why I am asking about my elective rotations. When do you go to the hospital(s) that you are interested in doing a residency? Is it better to do it in your third year or fourth year?

 

[LaCirujana]

I think you are asking about "away rotations"--right? For the most part, these are generally done near the beginning of one's fourth year.
My school won't even consider third year students from other programs coming to do electives or sub-I's unless they have already completed their "core" third year rotations.
The majority of people do one or two away rotations, at the programs they are the very very most interested in--there just isn't time for more than that. And remember, those rotations can hurt you, too.

 

[Kiki2004]

I'm possibly interested in OB/GYN, too. The way it works at my school is that you are required to do a rotation in OB/GYN your third year. I hear that if you are interested in a particular residency program, you should do a sub-I at that particular hospital, usually around the time before you start applying for residency programs, i.e., June-July-August (b/w you're third and fourth year). That would be your best shot.

Any current OB/GYN residents out there who can share what it's like? Hours? I hear the call schedule is pretty brutal!

kiki~
MS3! (finally!)

 

[apple638]

thanks KiKi2004

 

[2003doc]

Completion of all 3rd year rotations is usually required to do away rotations; check out places where you are interested in and apply to them sometime late in 3rd year. Most people like to do their externships sometime early in 4th year from right when 3rd year ends (usually in June) to when interviews begin (around November).

As for where to do them, check out the aamc site for externships- this has info of what courses are offered, how to get an application, etc. <a href="http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives/start.htm" target="_blank">http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives/start.htm</a>

Call schedules for OB/GYN- most advertise that they are q3-q4 (every 3rd to fourth night); for example, my school says they are q4, though that is an average over a month. You may have some weeks where you stay every 2nd to 3rd night and then have other weeks with only 1 call night. I think the best bet to get a true feel on a particular program is to talk with residents. Check out the ama-freida site for more program stats: <a href="http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html" target="_blank">http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html</a>

We did 12-13 calls over an 8 week period (roughly every fourth night) during my OB/GYN rotation, and often it was 36 hours (5AM one day to ~5PM the next day) but you'll be amazed on what you can do. You just have to work hard on budgeting your time and taking care of yourself.

Good luck.

 

[DuneHog]

It is absolutely true that OBs take overnight call and work 36+ hour shifts. Students did this q4 during my 3rd year clerkship. Residents do this at least q4, sometimes q3 at my institution. Call is brutal, and involves very little sleep compared with other specialties. Every OB resident I have ever met is grouchy and sleep deprived. Unfortunately, things don't get much better when you are an attending, because you still have to stay up all night frequently for deliveries. ALso, then you have to contend with law suits, often for things you have no control over. Someone once described OB to me as "maximum responsibility with minimal control", meaning you have very little control over how and when the delivery occurs, but in the eyes of the patient, public and often times the law you are 100% responsible if anything goes wrong. I was actually quite surprised with this statement until I did my clerkship and realized that the medications we use to induce labor and stop pre-term labor are actually very ineffective. The birthing process is a powerful force that cannot be easily tampered with, except with c-section. THe only saving grace OB has is that deliveries are a very positive, enjoyable experience for many patients, and it is rewarding to be involved in this experience.

 

[apple638]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have another question. How competitive are ob/gyn residencies. I'm hearing that the ob/gyn residencies are becoming less popular due to the increase in malpractice insurance. What's your take on this? I'm pretty much a B sometimes C student and I'm scared to death of the boards. What kind of score is competitive for ob/gyn?

I guess I had more than one question

 

[Hercules]

Ob/Gyn is not a very competitive specialty. I'm sure it's tough to get the top residencies in the field, but if you just want to match Ob/Gyn and you don't care where you do your residency, it shouldn't be a huge problem.

 

[doughboy]

That's true, OB-GYN is not as competitive overall as it used to be. However, you should consider the fact that good programs are always going to be extremely competitive in any field. I would seriously consider the "go to any program that will take you" mentality because OB-GYN is definitely one of the most time consuming and physically draining programs. If you don't like where you're going to be training at then you might not maintain the desire to finish it. There are programs out there that won't beat you to the ground and the residents are happy to be there and have a life. Working with grouchy residents who are miserable all the time is not an environment you want to be in. I also love it when people tell you that "its just the first year that's hard" That just tells me that the upper level residents don't care about their interns but only themselves. I want to be part of a program where people watch out for each other and try to make everyone's life a little easier.