Pediatrician & OB - is it possible?

[x3rebeccalynnx]

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I know I'd love being in either peds or ob/gyn, but I feel like I'd be happiest and be able to find the most balance if I were to combine ob w/ peds. Not to say I want to be a pediatric ob (work with pregnant adols). My ideal career would involve me being able to deliver babies and then care for them through adolescence.

Before anyone suggests FM w/ OB, I've already ruled out fm. While working with kids and adults is great, I frankly don't want to work with senior citizens, I really do best with moms and kids based on my shadowing and general life experience thus far.

If this is possible, I probably wouldn't clump both my peds and ob/gyn residencies one after the other. I would probably put both on the match, see which programs I match to and appeal to me and practice that out of residency for a few years, then go back for the other specialty so I could do both.

Sorry for the long post, but input on any of this would be appreciated 🙂

 

[Whiskeypunch]

Doing both residencies isn't realistic. You'll have plenty of time in school to experience both pediatrics and ob/gyn in your third year and make a decision.

You seem to have some misconceptions. Ob/gyn is a surgical specialty that deals with the female reproductive organs and pregnancy. Premeds don't tend to appreciate the surgical component. Also ob/gyn see women of all ages, not just 20-35 year old women. You will be seeing elderly women too.

Unfortunately you are going to have to pick one or the other. Part of becoming an expert is specialization.

From what you wrote it seems like Pediatrics is the specialty you are looking for. Or Family medicine with an obstetrics fellowship would work as well (even though you said you don't want to do that, it really is what you are trying to do).

 

[belle54321]

Doing both residencies isn't realistic. You'll have plenty of time in school to experience both pediatrics and ob/gyn in your third year and make a decision.

You seem to have some misconceptions. Ob/gyn is a surgical specialty that deals with the female reproductive organs and pregnancy. Premeds don't tend to appreciate the surgical component. Also ob/gyn see women of all ages, not just 20-35 year old women. You will be seeing elderly women too.

Unfortunately you are going to have to pick one or the other. Part of becoming an expert is specialization.

From what you wrote it seems like Pediatrics is the specialty you are looking for.

Yes, you are right in many aspects.
I am an obgyn attending (MD). Yes obgyn is a surgical specialty. There are ways to take care of adolescents, but it is usually in gynecology-not obstetrics. There are fellowships in adolescent gynecology. Also, I know a few reproductive endocrinologists who specialize in pediatric surgeries. But yes, it will be hard to tailor your practice to only take care of pregnant adolescents.

 

[bleeker10]

If this is possible, I probably wouldn't clump both my peds and ob/gyn residencies one after the other. I would probably put both on the match, see which programs I match to and appeal to me and practice that out of residency for a few years, then go back for the other specialty so I could do both.

If I understand you correctly, you are wanting to apply peds and ob. Assuming you match in both, you will then pick which one you would rather do? If this is what you are saying, you are misunderstanding how the match works. You will only match to one program and you are legally bound to show up to that program on July 1st (plus part of June for orientation). So if you rank ob and peds programs and match at ob program A, then you are obligated to go to that program. It isn't like applying to med school where you can pick which school you want to attend.

 

[crmellon]

If I understand you correctly, you are wanting to apply peds and ob. Assuming you match in both, you will then pick which one you would rather do? If this is what you are saying, you are misunderstanding how the match works. You will only match to one program and you are legally bound to show up to that program on July 1st (plus part of June for orientation). So if you rank ob and peds programs and match at ob program A, then you are obligated to go to that program. It isn't like applying to med school where you can pick which school you want to attend.

👍

Which is exactly why you shouldn't worry about this until you're halfway through medical school.

 

[The kitchen sink]

Doing both residencies isn't realistic. You'll have plenty of time in school to experience both pediatrics and ob/gyn in your third year and make a decision.

You seem to have some misconceptions. Ob/gyn is a surgical specialty that deals with the female reproductive organs and pregnancy. Premeds don't tend to appreciate the surgical component. Also ob/gyn see women of all ages, not just 20-35 year old women. You will be seeing elderly women too.

Unfortunately you are going to have to pick one or the other. Part of becoming an expert is specialization.

From what you wrote it seems like Pediatrics is the specialty you are looking for. Or Family medicine with an obstetrics fellowship would work as well (even though you said you don't want to do that, it really is what you are trying to do).

hell i didnt even realize that till right now after an OBGYN jus lectured to us, i didnt realize they did so much surgery (im an OMS-II)

 

[Roguelyn]

FM with OB. You can attempt to limit your practice to a particular age but you run the risk of not keeping your schedule full.

 

[Bacchus]

Do family medicine and practice in a rural location. You'll get to see kids and do uncomplicated deliveries. Throw in an OB 1-year fellowship and you might be able to get privileges from a rural hospital to do sections.

 

[guydudcl371]

This may sound like a stupid suggestion but is something to think about....there are certain parts of the country that just have incredibly high teenage pregnancy rates in comparison to other parts of the country. Just another thing to think about that may impact the amount of exposure you have to this specific population. I have very similar interest so feel free to PM me.

 

[eccentric jet]

If you don't want to see older women or do a lot of gyn but you want OB, you could go into maternal fetal medicine or be an OB hospitalist. However, once the kid is born it'll be out of your hands and you'll be stuck with mom.

If you like babies and perinatal care you could consider peds with a NICU fellowship. That way, you do maternal consults and attend a lot of deliveries and then take over care of baby after birth and not mom.

But doing both OB/Gyn and Pediatrics is just not very practical in the age of specialized medicine. As people said, family medicine in a rural area might allow for both, but it would be hard limit yourself to just moms and babies. Really, they are two pretty different fields, and after more exposure you'll probably be able to decide which suits you better.