Ob/Gyn 110

I enjoyed my obstetrics and gynecology rotation a lot more than I expected. I had a great time on labor and delivery. The attendings and midwives were dedicated to teaching, the teams were great, and the subject matter interesting. Though the hours were long, the work was fun. I loved deliveries and working with healthy women at a joyous time in their lives. By my seventh delivery, my attendings had enough confidence in me simply to gown, glove, and watch. There was a bit of emergency medicine (triage), surgery, and medicine (complicated antepartum patients).

My gynecology weeks were less satisfying but solid outpatient experiences. I appreciated seeing REI, dysplasia, and women's options clinic. I feel pretty good about doing a pelvic speculum exam and working up some basic gynecology complaints. For me, there was a big learning curve; I knew very little about pregnancy and women's health going in. But I think by the time the shelf exam came around, I had a decent knowledge base. Cancer surgeries involved intriciate lymph node dissection and beautiful anatomy; benign gynecology surgeries involved both laparoscopic, transvaginal, and open procedures. It was cool.

In the end, though, ob/gyn goes up on my list of interests, but doesn't top the list. If I went into it, I'd be most interesed in perinatology (high risk obstetrics) or possibly reproductive endocrinology and infertility. However, I realized the surgeries and gynecology are not that interesting to me; I really mostly like the medicine and obstetrics aspects. I tend to like working with sicker patients than those normally in ob/gyn. And I don't think I want to limit my patients to women. I had a few attendings try to convince me to go into the field, and I really appreciate it, but I'm not sure it is right for me.