Beginning Ob/gyn rotation today

Today I start on a new rotation - Obstetrics and Gynecology.

I've been somewhat looking forward to this rotation for a while now. I actually find the subject material interesting, mostly Ob. I really like babies, which is why I liked pediatrics quite a bit when I did it. It'd be the highlight of my year if I could help deliver a baby. I hear this is a possibility if I'm assertive enough and if I have the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time. This rotation will be a flop if I don't get to do that.



I don't see myself going into Ob/gyn in the future, but I'm going to make the best of this rotation and take
away from it what I can.

Women have unique and interesting problems, and I'd like to learn more about them. Some med students are squeamish about the idea of being up close with female anatomy. I'm impartial. As a physician, you have to be comfortable with everything and once you do something enough the 'shock factor' goes away and it just becomes a job.

Amongst medical students, there is perception that Ob/gyn has a certain culture associated with it that is estrogen-heavy and hostile to men. I don't know if that's true or not, but that notion is out there. Also, for whatever reason, people talk about Ob/gyn people being unhappy. Those are broad generalizations and most likely they're not true. And if there is any bit of truth to them, I imagine there are differences from institution to institution, service to service, and person to person. So I'm not going in with the expectation of being attacked by a wave of cattiness. I'm just going to take it as it comes and do my best to enjoy.

I think it's always good to lay out goals before you engage in anything so that you have some criteria with which to measure your experience when it's over. Here are mine:

1. Deliver a baby!
2. Learn to do a competent pelvic exam.
3. Understand basic topics in Ob/gyn
4. Learn what I need to learn about Ob/gyn for Step 2 CK
5. Ace the Ob/gyn shelf

All those goals with the exception of the first requires some studying. So with that, I'm off to study. I'll report back later in the week.