OB/GYN rotation ended almost two weeks ago. At that time, I jotted down some things I liked and disliked about the rotation.
Relevant medspeak:
obstetrics: branch of medicine that deals with pregnant women during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period.
gynecology: the branch of medicine that deals with diseases of the female reproductive organs.
Likes:
- I'd be okay if I only saw female patients for the rest of my career.
- I like asking people about their gynecologic history. Yup, this includes all the awkward questions we had to practice asking in pre-clinical years.
- I like gynecologic surgeries. Some common ones I saw were ovarian cystectomy, dilation and curettage, salpingoophorectomy, hysterectomy, different types of tubal ligation, endometrial ablation, diagnostic laparascopy, salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy. I think it's the coolest thing that I get to see the inside of someone's body.
- I like doing a speculum exam and finding the cervix.
- I like palpating uteruses.
- I like checking cervical dilation even though 80% of the time I can't find the internal os of the cervix.
- OB/GYN residents are nice. But so far I haven't worked with any other residents so I'm not sure how they compare.
- Getting dirty in blood and amniotic fluid.
- It's the medical application of my longstanding interest in reproductive health and reproductive rights. I've learned a lot more about reproductive medicine, which is someone I always wanted to learn about. I feel like I'm being true to my values and beliefs. I guess I'm still telling people to use birth control, just in a different setting.
Dislikes:
- Ridiculous work schedule in residency and as an attending. What other physicians or working person would feel fortunate to have to work every fourth weekend and every fourth weeknight? Really, this is considered a cushy schedule for a full time OB/GYN.
- So... I kind of don't like obstetrics. I know this is half of OB/GYN... If I could do a residency that only consisted of gynecology, I would be ready to commit to that now. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. I could do a fellowship after an OB/GYN residency in an gynecologic field so that I'd pretty much only see gynecologic cases. But I'm not sure I'll have the energy to do a fellowship by the time I'm through one of the most difficult residencies so I can't make that decision right now.
