What is the life of a OB/GYN doctor????

Question

Right now I want to be an OB/GYN. Do they have a good life if you're an OB/GYN? Pros and cons

Answer 1

There are two significant drawbacks to being an ob/gyn.  

One is the malpractice insurance which is huge.  The time limit for litigation is much longer when infants are involved.  And patients have a tendency to want to hold someone responsible for less than perfect outcomes, even if there really is no one at fault.  Some Ob/Gyns have limited their practice to only the gyn side because of this.

The other is the inablity to control your work hours.   Babies are gonna be born when they are gonna be born.  They don't take holidays off.  Some people in group practices set things up so they alternate call.  But a lot of moms really don't want to have to worry about whether you are going to be there to deliver their baby, or maybe someone is going to show up that they have never met.

When I had my 2nd child, I had a very interesting conversation w/ my OB.  We started off talking about the fatigue that goes along w/ being a new mom.  He said that he was quite grateful that his practice was now consisting of more older women & he was not delivering as many babies as he did a few years earlier.  He recalled one night being so fatigued that he was almost in tears.  Looking back, he could not remember the last night he had gotten a full night's sleep.  And looking into the future, he couldn't imagine when he was next likely to get one.  It certainly gave me some insight.

Answer 2

Now would be a great time to get into that field.  There is a shortage of OB/GYNs at this time.   Many have stopped delivering babies due to insurance issues, and I don't know if that has been cleaned up, so you should read about it.

Answer 3

When I did my anesthesia post-epidural rounds this morning to check on our patients from yesterday, I noticed that the two babies were born around 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

They didn't deliver themselves.

Answer 4

it varies and depends, they deal with womens' problems and health. most doctors have a great lifestyle.

Answer 5

The money is good but the job can get in the way of your personal life. Babies are almost always born at night. Actually I mean labor starts at night and you have to get up and go to the hospital to be with your patient. Every full moon there is a rush of women having babies. You would also have to do C-sections. Some scheduled, some emergency. That means waking you up at night or rushing from your office to the hospital.

I'm not an OB/GYN but I am a mother of 5 and grandmother of 20. I have been around those type of doctors a lot.

Answer 6

yucky