Switching from General Surgery to OB/Gyn

[Bazega]

I am in my 4th year of general surgery residency and am thinking of changing to OB/Gyn. My reasons for going into general surgery were mainly to do trauma/critical care but I am wanting more of a continuity of care with patients and feel like I would be great with women. I do still want surgery in my practice. Any suggestions on making this happen? My program says they will support me, and I would love to be able to transition into a OB/Gyn PGY-1 spot soon but I don't know if any are available. Last resort is to go back through the match. Could I receive credit for some of my general surgery training? Any advice on this very difficult decision is welcome.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Winged Scapula]

How about a breast surgery fellowship? Its only 1 year after finishing general surgery (there are a couple of 2 year programs), your patients will be almost all women, there is long term continuity and you stay in the OR, its very very marketable and its without losing any time (if you were to start all over with Ob-Gyn).

 

[Wednesday]

Hi,

I am not an expert but do know some of the answers to your questions.

The first is that you will most likely have to start as a PGY-I because ACOG doesn't take Gen surgery rotations to count for ob/gyn. If the program you go to has a SICU month, you may get some credit for that, but you would likely still have to do 4 more years of residency.

ACOG has a clearinghouse of open positions. This link should work. http://www.acog.org/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=1&bulletin=122

There are no PGY-1 positions right now, according to the site, but this could change. There are usually more PGY-2 spots though. I think you will likely have to go through the match. Have you spoken to the ob/gyn PD at your current hospital? That person might be really helpful as far as finding a spot and figuring out if you really want to make this change.