Switching OUT of Psychiatry to Ob/Gyn

[psych2obgynswitch]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi fellow psychiatrists,

Very new poster here and in need of advice... I am finishing up my PGY1 year in psychiatry. When I was an MS4, I struggled with the decision of OB/GYN vs. psychiatry. I decided to pursue the latter field with the intention of going into reproductive/women's mental health (being a guy, this still raises eyebrows, even within our openminded community). Now a year into psychiatry residency, I miss Ob/Gyn and regret not choosing to pursue it. Last month, I worked with the OB/GYN team on our hospital's C/L service, and I jived really well with them. I loved the MFM, Onc, and REI cases that we saw together... I even scrubbed into C-sections during my day off and loved every second of it. I also feel as if the OBs are more my 'people' (if that makes sense?). While I think psychiatry is a wonderful and fascinating field of medicine, I don't find it to be all that rewarding. Admittedly, though, my experience has been exclusively inpatient, with C/L mixed in here and there, and a whole lot of medicine and neurology. The hours are few in number, but they feel longer and more drawn out in to me.

My current psych PD is aware of my thoughts of switching fields and has been incredibly supportive. With all that said:

1. Does anyone have experience switching OUT of psychiatry?

2. I assume that I would have to fill out ERAS/NRMP this summer for a PGY1 spot beginning in Fall 2015?

3. I'm now 1-2 full years out of medical school and the core OB/GYN clerkship + elective/sub-I experience. I spoke with my old OB/GYN clerkship director and PD, and they both were willing to write letters of recommendation on my behalf. Same for the Ob/Gyn attendings at my residency program (although they don't know me as well). Not sure how much weight those letters from med school will carry, being as how I'm so far out?

4. Any other advice is welcome. 🙂

Thank you!

 

[Shikima]

Current letters would count more than the ones from Med school.

 

[shan564]

Questions 2-4 would likely be better answered in the Ob/gyn forums.

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

i'm an MS-3 about to start MS-4 in about the same position you were in a couple years ago: male, very interested in repro/women's mental health, and obviously i like both psychiatry and ob/gyn. at this point i'm fairly dedicated to doing psych for residency and hopefully women's mental health fellowship after.

having looked into the different options, i think a third option you might consider (if you think ob/gyn is a reach) is to find an internal medicine residency that has a women's health track. my understanding of residency--admittedly limited--is that some rotations transfer when you change programs. since ob/gyn internship is sooooo different from psych residency your psych rotations might count for some IM requirements but not ob/gyn requirements. so after finishing psych internship you might have... say 2.5 years left if transferring to an IM with women's health track, but 4 years of ob/gyn.

one thing you've got going for you is that you're a male. having spoken to the chair of ob/gyn at my med school, he said this is definitely working in favor of males. i'm on the west coast and he said that outside southern california male ob/gyn residents are relatively underrepresented and that they actively recruit male applicants because they think having some male ob/gyns is good for the field.

good luck!

 

[psych2obgynswitch]

Thanks, hopefuldoc! Hope to be colleagues one day!

Very good point about internal medicine residencies with women's health tracks. I think my current program has one.

My Ob/Gyn chair said something similar about being a male Ob/Gyn applicant: "that Y chromosome automatically adds 30 points to your Step 1 store... and maybe a publication, too."

 

[rkaz]

at this point i'm fairly dedicated to doing psych for residency and hopefully women's mental health fellowship after.

Are there actually women's mental health fellowships? I have never heard of such a thing, either on this forum or on the interview trail. I know you can do a one-month elective in women's mental health in PGY4 (as several programs offer that elective), but it's not an actual fellowship.

 

[splik]

Are there actually women's mental health fellowships?

yes there are a few. they are either non-accredited, or accredited for psychosomatic medicine. NYU, Brown, UIC, BWH are the ones i know of. of course it isn't at all necessary to have such a "fellowship" and (if non-accredited) you could potentially do it your PGY-4, but there's nothing wrong with spending a year dedicated yourself to what interests you even if that may cost you $150k.

 

[peppy]

There definitely is a niche for psychiatrists who are interested in women's mental health in psychosomatic medicine. If you are willing to join the APM, I would suggest signing up for the APM's women's mental health interest group: http://www.apm.org/sigs/index.shtml

yes there are a few. they are either non-accredited, or accredited for psychosomatic medicine. NYU, Brown, UIC, BWH are the ones i know of. of course it isn't at all necessary to have such a "fellowship" and (if non-accredited) you could potentially do it your PGY-4, but there's nothing wrong with spending a year dedicated yourself to what interests you even if that may cost you $150k.

 

[Armadillos]

I know in my universities health system they have a couple psychiatrists who are essentially completely embedded into the the OB/GYN program, in that they work full time in their office/clinics and their research is done with OB/GYNs as opposed to working with other psychiatrists, they go to OB/GYN departmental meetings as opposed to psych, etc.