OB/GYN

Dear Bono,

Today I had dinner with three of my future cohorts: young, female pediatric urologists.  It was fantastic, and exactly what I needed after the past pediatric urology match drama.

More importantly, however, today I taught my medical students about OB/GYN.  I have two female medical students on my service.  Since last week was New Year's Day, they are just barely starting out on their clinical rotations.  You see, the way medical school works here in America is that there are two years of basically lecture, small group, with maybe one afternoon a week mixed in where you go "see patients" and learn how to do a history and physical exam.  Then you realize at the end of your second year that you really didn't learn anything applicable to patient care in the first two years, but it doesn't matter because you're back to studying the Krebs cycle for your boards, which all of a sudden you have to take in June after your second year and which will determine whether or not you'll be able to get into the specialty you want.  This is stressful.  Anyway, since my students know nothing about any of the other clinical rotations, they're not really sure of what they want to do with their lives.  You see, here students spend anywhere from 1 week to 1 month on any given service, and that time frame is apparently enough for you to know whether or not that is the job you want for the next 35 years.  Also, remember that these rotations are in an academic setting and most physicians don't actually practice in an academic setting.  But hey, as long as you thought that one week  you did back in September of your 3rd year of medical school seemed pretty good, why not go with it?

I think this is a stupid system.  It's also a system where plenty of residents (what the trainees are called after medical school) realize they made a terrible mistake and need to change career, thus wasting their time, and creating an open spot that they are leaving, which makes the program either try to find someone for that spot, or else just have to figure out who will cover that spot.  It's a problem.  Perhaps if people actually were able to have more experience in what they think they might to do prior to actually deciding....

My advice to students is therefore not really "pick something you love."  Maybe part of that is because I didn't actually "love" anything during my 3rd year.  My advice to students is to pick something where they fit in with the people who go into it.  I went into urology partly because I love to operate, and partly because they seemed laid back and like they wanted to have lives outside of work.  And so far, it's worked out ok.*

The other thing I warn new students about is to watch out for OB/GYN.  For some reason, it is universally thought of as the worst rotation.  Delivering babies was ok (horrific, but ok).  Performing gyn surgeries was fine.  But that rotation was horrible.  I think it's because the residents are just horrible people.  Sure they work crazy hours, but it's no worse than those of the general surgery residents.  And general surgery residents are funny.  They can be jerks, but they're at least funny about it.  OB/GYN residents though... They are just horrible.  Mean.  It's like a mean sorority where all the members are also in junior high.  Backstabbing, eye-rolling, the works.  But hey, if you fit in with that, that may be the job for you.

*Aside from recent pediatric urology match drama

Bono, if you went to medical school, what kind of doctor do you think you would be?

Sincerely,
JP