Choosing a Specialty

Are you sure you want Obstetrics and Gynecology? This choice should be based on how much you enjoy the practice of Ob-Gyn and how much you feel you will enjoy the practice 10 years hence. No one can predict what the practice of medicine will be like in 10 years, but try to envision what the future may hold.

The majority of residents will go into the private practice of Ob-Gyn. Others will enter subspecialty training. It is possible that the number of physicians needed in both private and subspecialty practice may change in the coming years due to shifts in practice models.

Look at several role models. What does he or she do on a day-to-day basis? The Ob-Gyn that you see in a university medical center probably is not representative of what a physician does in true private practice. The practice of Ob-Gyn is different in a residency in an inner city, indigent hospital or a large urban, highly specialized tertiary care center.

Consider what the average practitioner does on a day-to-day basis. Is it likely that you will continue to be stimulated? Will you be able to over come the day-to-day stress and continue to be happy in the years to come? What about the projected income? Will you be able to keep the threat of malpractice from being an overwhelming personal burden? Will you fulfill the calling, the mission that led you to become a physician?

Studying these questions is doing a personal needs-assessment. Not only is this important in selecting a specialty, but it will also help you begin to describe the type of residency program that will best suit you.

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