Have you ever been sitting in your doctor’s office and wondered why on earth someone would want to become an OBGYN? Let’s be honest. No one has ever said, “I can’t wait for my yearly visit.” And yet, people go to medical school for years to work in the specialty.
Currently, there is a shortage of OBGYN’s in the United States. Many people now have to drive more than an hour just to find one to treat them. Thankfully this is slowly changing, and more people are choosing to go into this specialty.
A lot of people believe that all a gynecologist does is deliver babies and do yearly pap smears. This is not true. An OBGYN helps with many complex issues such as endometriosis, genetic testing, minimally invasive surgery, and helps advocate for women’s health.
There are many different reasons students may select to go into this field. Perhaps they made a strong connection with their resident doctor and found their passion in gynecology. Also, if the student wants to form a relationship with a client, this would be an excellent field. The physician will take care of the patient, watch them go through different stages, and then help them bring a new life into the world. There are more of the main reasons people choose gynecology listed below.
Flexibility and Work Satisfaction
There’s nothing quite like bringing a new life into the world, and it’s one of the first reasons people choose to go into the specialty. You get to watch the look in the new mother’s eyes the first time she hears her baby’s heartbeat and then be there with her the first time she sees the baby. There can’t be many professions that top that.
Most physicians who choose to go into this field love how flexible it is. A lot of graduates choose to open their clinics along with their partners. Those who choose to work in an office with multiple OBGYNs available will have on-call rotation, meaning they will have some free nights and weekends. Having a good balance between work and home helps to decrease the chance of experiencing burnout.
Love at First Sight
Some people may know from the beginning that they want to become a doctor and primarily focus on women. While doing your residency, you may have found that you enjoyed being around women and felt connected to them. And then you knew, no other field would do this for you.
Some people think that every day working in this field is the same. Women come in. You look them over and send them on their way. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One day you’ll be in the office all day doing well checks for women, monitoring a pregnancy. The next day, you’ll have a full day of surgeries, and then a day later, be at the hospital delivering a baby. Whether you’re in the office, in surgery, or delivering a baby, no two days will ever be the same.
Helping Women
It doesn’t matter what field you choose in the medical field; there’s one thing required, a passion for helping others. When you pick this specialty, you are not helping someone who is sick, but instead, you’re helping to keep someone from getting sick. This is one of the main differences between being an OBGYN. Most women who come in are coming in for their yearly checkup, and the two of you will talk for a bit to make sure all is going well, and then she’ll come back again in a year.
There are also times when you get to help women feel better. Maybe a woman comes in with fertility issues or painful periods. You may help the woman who has difficulty conceiving fulfill her dream of becoming a mother. And the one with the painful periods may have a mild form of endometriosis and you’ll be able help her through that.
Money
Yes, this comes into play as well. If you decide to go into a medical specialty, you’re going to have to stay in school longer, take specialized classes, pass a lot more tests, and then once you complete your residency, you can work on your own. Oh, and the best part is you’ll have a higher amount of student debt.
The good news is that you’ll get paid better. Depending on your experience and qualifications, you could make just a little less than someone in the cardiac field. In order to succeed, you have to want to help your patient and not just focus on how high your salary will be.
The Babies
This probably should have been the first on the list. Watching a new life come into the world has to be one of the most beautiful sites there are. You get to be the first person to see them, to hold them, and then to make sure they’re healthy. It doesn’t matter if the birth is vaginal or a C-section. The reward is fantastic.
Maybe after you’ve read this, you’ve decided you’re a bit more curious about going into this specialty. If so, you can simply do a quick search for ob-gyn job openings.
No matter what field of medicine you choose to go into, just make sure it’s one you’re passionate about.
