Rotation #2: Obstetrics & Gynecology

My husband's second rotation was Obstetrics and Gynecology. He actually finished this one a couple of weeks ago, but between all of us being sick and him preparing for a big presentation, I have not had a chance to write about it yet!

Anyways, I had heard that the hours would be long during this rotation. And, I discovered that everyone was completely correct! My hubby was often gone before anyone else got up in the morning and would often come home late, typically around 6:00-7:00 in the evening. He was putting in at least 12+ hour days and would come home completely exhausted! And, of course, then there was call . . . he would leave at his usual time in the morning (way before I would wake up!) and would stay overnight at the hospital. The nice thing . . . he was allowed to come home in the mornings around 9:00. He would then get some sleep for a few hours (all depending on how much sleep he got the night before) before waking up to attempt to spend some time with us. We rarely spent time together during this month, and when we did, he was often exhausted and to be honest, NOT that fun to be around all the time! :)

Like I said before in the "I'm Stuck" post, this rotation was hard for me. Not only because the hours were long, but because my husband would come home exhausted, yet excited about the many things that he saw or did that day. I do believe that it is now safe to say though, they I do not have to worry about him pursuing this specialty! Yippee! :) I am definitely happy about that, but still wondering and waiting to see what he eventually decides . . . will it be Internal Medicine like he has said from the start or will it be something completely different?

Anyways, for those of you interested in the student perspective, here's what my husband has to say about the OB/GYN rotation . . .

I have to say that I was not looking forward to my OB/GYN rotation at all. I can’t say that I was dreading it but I hadn’t heard good things from other people’s rotations at different sites. However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I finished.

At my rotation site we spend 2 weeks doing Gyn surgery and 2 weeks on OB. My first 2 weeks were on Gyn surgery and it was a good experience. I hadn’t spent any time in the OR before this and so it was kind of a shock at first. However, once I got used to scrubbing-in and realizing what not to touch it wasn’t that bad. The attendings were patient (for the most part) and would let me “do” a lot of stuff. I was first-assist on a few operations and there were a couple of very difficult operations (vaginal hysterectomies) that the residents didn’t make it too so it was just me and two attendings!! These are usually cases that are fought over by the OB’s and I was lucky enough to have it all to myself. Needless to say I really enjoyed this aspect of the rotation.

The next two weeks were OB and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I didn’t mind the idea of being in on deliveries but I was a bit anxious about what my role would be. All of the residents made us comfortable but at the same time expected us to help out and there was no room to just sit around. I was able to do a lot of the same stuff an OB intern would do (with guidance of course) and the nurses helped me out quite a bit as well. Most of the ladies I followed were accepting of students which helped a lot as well. We usually saw our own patients throughout the day and followed them until we left or they delivered. Every delivery I was in on I was able to help in some way. The OB residents really did let us handle a lot of the responsibility. In one particular case I was working with the chief resident on the delivery and the attending (the doc that was following this ladies pregnancy) walked in late didn’t even gown up. He gave me a few pointers over my shoulder and let me have at it. The chief resident let me deliver the baby and clamp the cord while she watched my technique. That made the rotation worth it. During the next week I got to repeat a lot of the above with the addition of being taught ultrasound techniques and getting to scrub-in on a lot of C-sections.

Overall, I was extremely happy with the rotation and had a blast during it. I was on call 5 nights and one weekend. The downside was that my weekend shift started on the Saturday AFTER we were technically done with our rotation so that was difficult as I had no time to relax before my next rotation. During call nights we would follow labors as well as do ER consults and occasionally get some sleep before rounding on our patients at 5 the next morning. This made the rotation a bit exhausting and I did miss my family quite a bit. It wouldn’t have been worth it if I didn’t have such a good experience.

I would SERIOUSLY consider this job if OB/GYN’s didn’t work so hard. Don’t get me wrong, I am not lazy, but when I see them come in at 2:30 in the morning after going home at 10 p.m. the previous evening to deliver a baby and then have to go into the clinic or start surgeries at 7 a.m. that morning is too much for me. A lot of them looked very tired and worn out and I got more than “I am too old for this” comment. Being a doctor isn’t easy but they just work to hard for my sake and I am too old to do that to my body again. I can definitely see the draw to the specialty though.

Coming soon . . . Rural Family Practice!