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What advice would you give to someone who wants to study obstetrics but is not sure if it is the right career?
I am passionate about maternal and child health, but I want to be sure that I have the necessary skills to be a good obstetrician.
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4 answers
Kazi Rubayee
Oriental medicine health professional, Acupuncturist, Holistic health practitioner
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Kazi’s Answer
Great, you are thinking of a career that needs compassion and the necessary skills for professional readiness. Your passion reflects your interest in maternity or childcare professionals like obstetrics, pediatrics, or midwifery.
Don’t worry, your passion overcomes fear and doubt in your professional life.
Obstetrics can be rewarding, but needs medical knowledge and lots of hands-on practice, performing C sections, delivering a baby, physical exam, etc. At the same time decision-making skills under pressure, communication skills, and paying attention to details are especially important
Also, think of long hours and unpredictable calls as a demanding professional in the health care setting.
To be certain you can volunteer or arrange a visit to a hospital or clinic to see the OB life in action.
Best,
Don’t worry, your passion overcomes fear and doubt in your professional life.
Obstetrics can be rewarding, but needs medical knowledge and lots of hands-on practice, performing C sections, delivering a baby, physical exam, etc. At the same time decision-making skills under pressure, communication skills, and paying attention to details are especially important
Also, think of long hours and unpredictable calls as a demanding professional in the health care setting.
To be certain you can volunteer or arrange a visit to a hospital or clinic to see the OB life in action.
Best,
Updated
Guille’s Answer
Check if you can arrange a visit to shadow an obstetrician. This will help you decide if it's a career you truly want to pursue.
Updated
Mayan’s Answer
Hey Laura, if you have the passion for it (and it sounds like you do), I believe you'll do well. Skills can be learned with proper education and practice- that's what school is for.
If you have an appreciation for both maternal (perinatal) and pediatric health, I'd recommend looking into alternative medical fields such as chiropractic. In conventional medicine you would either specialize in obstetrics or pediatrics, not usually both. With chiropractic, you could treat moms and kids as part of the same specialty.
I hope this helps!
If you have an appreciation for both maternal (perinatal) and pediatric health, I'd recommend looking into alternative medical fields such as chiropractic. In conventional medicine you would either specialize in obstetrics or pediatrics, not usually both. With chiropractic, you could treat moms and kids as part of the same specialty.
I hope this helps!
Updated
Natasha’s Answer
If you're passionate about it, you WILL gain the knowledge to be a good obstetrician. But no, you won't graduate knowing everything that you need to know. Sounds scary, but that's how medical training is.
I'm a registered nurse not an OB/GYN but I can tell you that medical training is all similar in that school can only take us so far, so a lot of our real training is truly done on the job as we go. Yes doctors go to medical school, then have their residency, internships, fellowships and all that additional training, but the medical field is so full of "what if's", random caveats and just plain raw data that there's no way to know absolutely every thing before you get into practice.
Speaking from my experience; nursing school taught me the basic building blocks of main stream medical problems and gave a brief introduction to a few fields of nursing; obstetrics and gynecology (pregnant women), pediatrics (children), geriatric (elderly), medical surgical (average adults with non complex issues) and a few others. But these were just introductions and brief overviews (and when I say "brief", I mean an entire semester. But again, there's just too much to know to teach it all to a student, especially since we may not go into that field of nursing at all). My first job out of nursing school was in the emergency department, I had no idea how to use a "hospital grade" AED, how to run a code, how to splint an arm, what to do if a patient became combative because they were still high on whatever the paramedics saved them from over dosing on. But what I did know what that I had amazing mentors who were at my side the entire time (literally, so I didn't kill anyone) until I learned what I needed to know to fly solo, and even after that they were just a desk away to answer all my other questions. But even now almost 12 years later I still stumble upon something in the medical field I've never seen before, and that's where the support from your teammates comes into play. I imagine physicians have the same support system of trusted colleagues they can consult with when they come across a particularly difficult case or something that they've never seen before.
So in summary, you'll essentially start working without knowing your whole job, but that's okay! You will have bucket loads of training and even more support for years, so don't let that deter you from your dream! And even though you'll be the doctor, trust your seasoned nurses; we're excellent resources for "baby doctors" ;) And at the end of the day if you decide OB just isn't for you, you can always switch specialties. No career choice is ever permanent, so don't put too much pressure on yourself now to be SUPER sure you're making the right choice. But if you're passionate about it now, go for it!
Hope this helps, you know where to go if you have any other questions!
I'm a registered nurse not an OB/GYN but I can tell you that medical training is all similar in that school can only take us so far, so a lot of our real training is truly done on the job as we go. Yes doctors go to medical school, then have their residency, internships, fellowships and all that additional training, but the medical field is so full of "what if's", random caveats and just plain raw data that there's no way to know absolutely every thing before you get into practice.
Speaking from my experience; nursing school taught me the basic building blocks of main stream medical problems and gave a brief introduction to a few fields of nursing; obstetrics and gynecology (pregnant women), pediatrics (children), geriatric (elderly), medical surgical (average adults with non complex issues) and a few others. But these were just introductions and brief overviews (and when I say "brief", I mean an entire semester. But again, there's just too much to know to teach it all to a student, especially since we may not go into that field of nursing at all). My first job out of nursing school was in the emergency department, I had no idea how to use a "hospital grade" AED, how to run a code, how to splint an arm, what to do if a patient became combative because they were still high on whatever the paramedics saved them from over dosing on. But what I did know what that I had amazing mentors who were at my side the entire time (literally, so I didn't kill anyone) until I learned what I needed to know to fly solo, and even after that they were just a desk away to answer all my other questions. But even now almost 12 years later I still stumble upon something in the medical field I've never seen before, and that's where the support from your teammates comes into play. I imagine physicians have the same support system of trusted colleagues they can consult with when they come across a particularly difficult case or something that they've never seen before.
So in summary, you'll essentially start working without knowing your whole job, but that's okay! You will have bucket loads of training and even more support for years, so don't let that deter you from your dream! And even though you'll be the doctor, trust your seasoned nurses; we're excellent resources for "baby doctors" ;) And at the end of the day if you decide OB just isn't for you, you can always switch specialties. No career choice is ever permanent, so don't put too much pressure on yourself now to be SUPER sure you're making the right choice. But if you're passionate about it now, go for it!
Hope this helps, you know where to go if you have any other questions!