Peds vs. Ob/GYN!?!??!

[mailee88]

Hi! I have a dilemma
I have always wanted to go into Pediatrics because I absolutely love working with kids. However, when I had my OB/GYN rotation a couple of months ago, I absolutely LOVED it. I loved the Ob part, and REALLY loved the surgery aspect of the Gyn part. Clinics, on the other hand, weren't very appealing, but I didn't mind it. Then I started Peds. I also enjoy it very much. I love talking to the families, the patients...everyone is just so happy in Peds. I'm not sure whether or not to switch to peds! the things that are holding me back are low pay, too much general work (clinics, colds, cough, fever,etc)..I don't know if I can spend the rest of my life seeing kids in clinics. Also, I found that I really LOVE surgery..and I won't get that with peds. However with Ob...i am worred about having a life...having a family...malpractice...and just the basic hard lifestyle...but I know that I will like what I'm doing...I like peds and ob/gyn because they both involve a different patient population than just general medicine...the patients are more fun to deal with and tehy actually care about health because someone else's lives are in their hands (the kid, or the unborn baby...) I love talking to these patients because I feel like I'm actually making a difference and that they actually do want to take care of their bodies or their children...I can't decide!! Please help!!

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[sanfilippo]

Another option would be FP.
You cite very good reasons for liking both specialties, but, unfortunately, you will have to choose just one, hence the dilemma we all face when torn between two fields (for me it was IM and peds). My recommendation: schedule an "overlap" rotation such as MFM, neonatology, or genetics that encompasses aspects of both ob and peds right after your last M3 required rotation. It will help steer you one way or the other, and you can use the elective to enhance your knowledge-base for either specialty.

-s.

 

[jdog]

First off, let me respectfully completely disagree with the previous post. Family Practice in all practicality is being an internist with a mere sprinkling of Peds.

If you are a FP and do OB you are either very confident that those 2 months you spent during residency prepared you, or you are nuts. OB is the most highly litigated field in all of medicine, so enter at your own risk as an FP.

Anyway, on to the dilemma of OB vs. Peds. These specialties are very very different despite the obvious similarities and many do struggle with he decision. But ultimately people who go into peds have a passion for taking care of kids and people who go into OB have a passion for taking care of pregnant females and women's health in general. It used to be a a very prestigious field and very lucrative, but as that has changed, (don't get me wrong, it's very well respected and well paid), it is even more important to love it. They work very hard, it is very stressful, and they get sued on average twice a year is what I have heard, probably neither of them deserved.

I noticed you commenting on "everyone is happy in peds". That may appear true on the surface, but there are millions of chronically ill children in this country with very frustrating diseases. I have already done rotations this year in Hem/ONC, NICU, Cardiology, Neurology / Neurosurgery. Not a lot of fun and games and colds and diarrhea. Yes, suburban private practice and actually most general peds is full of colds and stuff, but during residency, in specialties, and even within general peds, there are plenty of ill kids to keep you busy.

Underneath it all is a feeling of joy and satisfaction in doing everything you can for the health of a child even if things don't turn out great.

Do a rotatioin of inpatient peds to experience some of this and if you can handle the sick kids than peds would be a great choice for you.

Just out of curiosity. What is your definition of low pay. I do not want you to count out peds as a choice because you might be surprised at the pay.

 

[sanfilippo]

Let ME respectfully disagree with the above post. God forbid if someone actually pays attention to emoticons.

First of all, there are many FP's in rural practice who keep an active peds and OB/Gyn service. Secondly, some FP's even in urban areas can focus on peds/adolescent/women's health. Saying all FP's are basically internists is a gross overstatement.

I will agree that my week of NICU was depressing, especially having done it at the county hospital

-S.

 

[jaydee2004]

I was facing this dilemma also. I was diehard OB/GYN for as long as I can remember, but I always had an interest in working with kids. Women's health is my passion. I loved outpatient gyn! However, when I did my rotation, I realized that I did not like the surgery. I did a ob/gyn sub-I to confirm my decision also and there was just too much surgery for me.

Regarding FP, I did consider that briefly. You have to consider what part of the country you are in. I'm a New Yorker, so FP isn't big here. More people take their kids to Pediatricians. Also, in FP you will be seeing a lot of internal medicine and I had no interest in that.

You just have to find the best fit for you. I decided to do Peds and will do a fellowship in adolescent medicine, where I will get to do outpatient gyn etc. with the adolescent girls.

 

[Kiki2004]

Wow! When I read this post, I thought, omigosh! I wrote this! I had the exact same problem up until about 2 months ago. I wanted to go into Pediatrics for as long as I can remember. Then I became interested in OB/GYN during medical school and loved it! And I found that I absolutely loved being in the O.R. I found women's issures to be so interesting. Not to mention working with a predominantly healthy patient population. I did my OB and Surgery core clerkships first and I was convinced that I would leave my lifelong goal of becoming a pediatrician and go for an OB/GYN residency. I absolutely loved my Gyn -Onc rotation, too! Then late in my third year, I did my Peds core clerkship and loved it! I particularly loved the NICU. Lots of procedures, going to high risk deliveries, C-sections, etc. When it came time to applying for residencies this year, I applied to both programs, went on interviews for OB and Peds. I knew that I would have to make a decision soon. One day I just woke up and decided that I want to do Peds (or Med-Peds, but that's a whole 'nother story!)

I have many reasons why I finally decided on Peds, but what stood out the most is that Pediatricians were much happier. I noticed a pattern when most OB/GYN's I talked to actually deterred me from the profession! Not one pediatrician regretted their decision. I cannot tell you how upsetting this was to me. I can't explain completely why I ultimately decided to do Peds. (I miss the O.R.!) But it was like one day I woke up and suddenly someone gave me that "sign" that I had been looking for because lord knows I would have gone back and fourth with my decision.

I feel I have made the right decision and I am excited that I am going into Pediatrics. I will most likely do a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine and focus on teen health issues, particularly gyn issues. Or I might do a fellowship in Neonatology, who knows! Now it's countdown to the Match!

Good luck with your decision and try and talk to as many people in each profession as you can. Figure out what types of things are most important to you, i.e., lifestyle, etc. Go with your heart. Both specialties are awesome!

 

[mailee88]

Thanks to EVERYONE for their replies and input into this thread. Especially to Kiki...who made me realize that I'm not alone in this...I do realize that all pediatricians are pretty much happy with their choice and the Ob/GYNs are all miserable...esp in residency...I also LOVE adolescent gyn. If I did Ob, I think I would do an apprentiship or something in that...because that field really fascinates me...man...we are like twins separated from birth

Anywayz, keep the advice and thoughts coming...they have all been SO helpful in my long and crazy decision of Peds---Ob/GYN

 

[supahfresh]

I would have to agree that family is a lot more than people give credit. If you are out in the boondocks, you can do almost everything. I know FP's doing lap chole's for cryin out loud. If you want to tailor your practice to just OB and peds, then with hard work you can do it. I have seen it already. But, it aint gonna happen in a big city. Thats just some tough reality.

Also, not all OB/GYNs and OB residents are miserable. I dont know why everyone thinks this way, but it just isnt true everywhere. Try visiting an OB group in a rural area and see the difference.

 

[kristing]

Originally posted by mailee88
and the Ob/GYNs are all miserable...esp in residency...

I expected this on my OB rotation. But, honestly, the OBs I worked with liked their jobs. Could be because I worked mostly with DOs and we might have a different mind set? I don't know. (I don't want to start a flame war here, people, just stating an observation)

But I will tell you that the attending I worked with the most was an MD and absolutely, positively, loved his job. He would walk in and say, "Hey! Yeah! I've got lots of paitents!" When he looked at the board in L&D. He was an amazing man.

A small, but easy thing to do (and it's simplistic, I know), is to look at the OBs you've worked with and the pediatricians you've worked with and see who do you fit in with the most? Who are most like you in terms of personality? Who would you like to go hang out with if given a few hours?

 

[Kiki2004]

Originally posted by kristing
A small, but easy thing to do (and it's simplistic, I know), is to look at the OBs you've worked with and the pediatricians you've worked with and see who do you fit in with the most? Who are most like you in terms of personality? Who would you like to go hang out with if given a few hours?

I totally agree! Even though I loved OB/GYN, I found that my personality fit more with pediatricians than OB's. I think you have to have a certain mindset/personality to do OB and be in the O.R. during the most stressful times, i.e., crash c-sections. You have to be assertive, and I am precisely the opposite...I'm more of a goofball who likes to talk to my patients about SpongeBob and the latest gossip on Hilary Duff. Not to mention my notorious collection of hello kitty stickers I give out to the kiddies on the wards...

 

[mailee88]

Kiki, I TOTALLY agree with you there. My personality fits more with the kiddos too...I love working with them and mostly playing with them and making them smile. but then i think...i kinda like it if my patients talked and one negative thing is that i have to deal with not one patient but two...or more...how do you get around that?

 

[Tazmaniac]

Well, in Ob/Gyn you will be working with two patients too, or sometimes one patient and a mole, or one patient and a teratoma. There's absolutely no avoiding the parent(s) in Peds, and their watchful presence is creepy to many people, which turns them away from Peds.

The closest you can get to going parent-free is adolescent medicine, though it seems from this post alone that tons of people want to do it. Ok, 2.

I'd also consider a pediatric surgical field, if you love the OR that much. Or even pediatric interventional cardiology which has surgical and peds elements, with ICU thrown in.

Kiki, I TOTALLY agree with you there.

No Ob/Gyn says 'TOTALLY.' That is totally a peds vocabulary.

-Todd MS-IV USC

 

[Seanmd]

I'd consider peds GI as an alternative to peds surg too

 

[FunnyLookingKid]

Originally posted by supahfresh
I know FP's doing lap chole's for cryin out loud. .

Not on me they won't

 

[JameeP]

What did you decide on b/c I am currently having the same dilemma!

 

[JameeP]

Hi Mailee...did you ever decide on peds vs ob/gyn?? I am currently in the same dilemma b/c I love both pt populations and I hated gen surg, but did not mind the gyn surgeries.

 

[J-Rad]

Mailee hasn't posted in almost four years; it might be tough to get an answer out of him/her .

 

[BigRedBeta]

From searching for all the posts Mailee made...they last posted in May 2005. They apparently matched at Children's Hospital of Orange County, but was looking to switch to anesthesia...there's no evidence though if that happened or not.