When I Grow Up – Obstetrician/Gynaecologist

It’s time to talk about one of my favourite specialties in medicine…obstetrician/gynaecologist! Now I know most of you might be busy trying to get into one of the medical universities with your UMAT® Exam scores or preparing for next year’s UMAT® Exam. However, it is important to start thinking of what sort of specialty you’d like to do.  Medicine is a huge field and many of the specialties you can choose are very different from each other. Analysing radiographs, performing heart surgery and treating a mental illness require distinctly different skillsets. Some fields are also very competitive and therefore, doing your research beforehand can be very beneficial.

The best advice I can give is to start looking towards specialties that have aspects you particularly enjoy (I know…it sounds obvious). For me personally, patient-doctor interactions have been one of the most interesting aspects of medicine to me. That’s basically Section 2 (i.e. Understanding People) of the UCAT. As an obstetrician/gynaecologist (ob/gyn), having good, long-lasting patient doctor relationships is one of the key skills required. Now before I tell you all the reasons to be an ob/gyn, let’s go over some background information on the specialty itself.

Ob/Gyns are trained by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. An obstetrician is a physician who handles the delivery of babies whereas a gynaecologist is a physician who specialises in treating diseases of the female reproductive organs. Therefore, an ob/gyn is a physician who both delivers babies and treats diseases of the female reproductive organs. The training program lasts for around 4 years once an individual has been accepted. For more details, feel free to read their official curriculum handbook.

(https://www.ranzcog.edu.au/Training/Specialist-Training/Curriculum-Handbook).  

Now there’s many reasons why you’d consider being an ob/gyn.  One of the main privileges of this specialty is to take part in life-changing moments of patients and their families. Ob/gyns are responsible for safely delivering a child to their parents. As you can imagine, the relief and pleasure on the parent’s faces would itself be very gratifying. However, helping women through the challenges of childbirth as well as any complications also establishes a long-term trust between the doctor and patient. This trust allows many ob/gyn doctors to become primary care physicians for women. As I mentioned before, forming such long-term relationships with patients is something that appeals to me and is a key component of being an ob/gyn.

Apart from delivering babies, ob/gyns will also have to conduct a lot of surgeries such as caesarean sections, laparoscopies and hysterectomies. I view conducting a surgery as a challenging yet very rewarding procedure. It always keeps things exciting! Besides this, ob/gyns also have a higher than average salary (for a doctor). Job security also seems to be very good. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for ob/gyns are expected to grow by as much as 20% over the next decade. Looking at all these reasons, it’s easy to see why ob/gyns are quite an appealing specialty to consider. However, this field is quite competitive as training spots are limited. So, if this specialty looks appealing to you, it’s time to start reading about it! Why don’t you start with the curriculum handbook.

Thanks for reading! - Sam S