I graduated from osteopathic medical school and matched into obstetrics and gynecology residency in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
OB/GYN residency is a 4-year program that teaches a doctor how to take care for women in all stages of life. If this residency is something you are interested in learning more about, you can participate in an “away” rotation where you rotate in OB/GYN at a residency program away from your own school. During residency clinical responsibility and autonomy are increasing with each year. OB/GYN residency is divided between labor and delivery, clinic, and the operating room. When you are in clinic, you will see a wide variety of patients from pregnancy care through general gynecology. This is where you meet many of your patients to schedule them for surgical procedures they may need or desire. Labor and delivery consists of caring for and delivering any pregnant patient who may come into the hospital. The operating room is for gynecology procedures, such as hysterectomies. For me, we are on a 6-week block schedule. This means we spend 6 weeks on a service before rotating to the next. This allows you to hone your skills in a certain area before moving on to the next rotation. Within each rotation, we have continuity clinic where we are able to see our own patients and try to mimic a “private practice” of our own. Other residency programs use a similar model, but their rotations may only last four weeks. We also have a call schedule, meaning we cover L&D and the gynecology service on the weekend. The team that is working nights does not have to work call. Our call schedule is either a team works friday night (6pm-7am) and Sunday day (7am-6pm), or a 24 hour shift on Saturday. The teams are made up of a senior resident and a lower level resident. This call schedule allows for residents who are working the more grueling rotations (such as L&D or gynecology oncology), time for rest and relaxation on the weekends.
When I am in the hospital, I usually work around 60-70 hours per week. This usually consists of 5 days of 12-hour shifts and 1-2 days off, depending on if I am on call that weekend. ACGME has limited resident duty hours to an average of 80 hours a week over a month. When I am in the clinic, I work more of a “normal” 8-to-9-hour day. During residency, you also get at least 3 weeks of vacation time annually and an additional 3 weeks of sick time off if needed. My program makes the schedule for the entire year at the beginning of the year, so we make vacation requests prior to the start of the year in order to maintain structure in the schedule throughout the year. The only time we are not able to request off, is if we are on nights. When I take a sick day, there is a backup system in place to assure any patients I was scheduled to take care of are covered.
Our program is one big family. We work together every day and often see each other more than our spouses and children, so we come to know each other very closely. We go through very stressful situations together and it brings us very close. We take care of each other and always check in on each other when someone is having a tough time. We hang out outside of work and help each other out if possible.
With every residency, there are going to be long days. OB/GYN is no exception. The biggest challenge I face is the fatigue with long weeks. I’m able to keep going because I absolutely love my job and the people I work with make it fun. I care for some of the sickest patients in the state, but seeing them have a healthy baby or feel so much relief after surgery makes it all worth it.
OB/GYN residency has a surgery log that we must fill out to ensure we are proficient in skills. This includes vaginal deliveries, operative deliveries, c-sections, hysterectomies (laparoscopic, vaginal, and open), as well as many other cases. In order to graduate, you have to reach the minimum number of cases on this log. There are also mandatory rotations we must complete, including labor & delivery, benign gynecology, urogynecology, gynecology oncology, reproductive endocrinology, and maternal fetal medicine. In addition, you are allowed the opportunity to participate in elective rotations if there is a rotation you are interested in that is not offered at your program. For my program, this would be complex family planning. In Oklahoma, we are not able to offer abortion care due to the strict reproduction laws in our state. If this is something you truly desire, you can participate in an “away” rotation (away from your home program) to fulfill this rotation. University based programs will often have access to all specialties.
There is teaching that occurs on each of our rotations, but we also have dedicated academic time each week. For us, this occurs on Friday afternoons and includes our pre-operative conference, where we discuss the upcoming surgical cases, as well as 3-4 lectures on different OB/GYN topics.
OB/GYN is a rewarding field of medicine where you can take care of women during their most vulnerable moments of their lives. From handing them their newborn baby to discussing life changing pathology results, I feel so fortunate to care for each patient I meet. It is a rewarding field which also offers competitive compensation. If you are the medical student that enjoys women’s health, surgical procedures, and specialty medicine, consider obstetrics and gynecology for your future career.
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