Starting OB

"Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad."
-W.C. Fields

When I was in medical school, there were a few rotations I really liked and several that I thought were ok, but only one that still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck whenever I think about it.  That would be obstetrics and gynecology.  Part of what I disliked about obstetrics (OB) was the medicine itself, and part was the malignancy of the environment.  So you can understand why I had some trepidation about being an off-service intern on OB.  (An off-service intern is an intern from one specialty who is doing a rotation in another specialty.)

Now that I have finished my first week of OB as a resident, I'm relieved that so far it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected.  (Of course, my expectations were so low that it would have been hard for the rotation to be worse than I was expecting.)  The biggest thing that has made my residency OB experience better is that I like the people I'm working with.  The residents have been very helpful and understanding, especially on the first day when I had no idea what to do.  We also have two third year medical students rotating with us, and they showed me where to find supplies and helped me write notes as well.

Another major reason is that my being there has a purpose.  There is a job that the team needs me to do, and I am there to do it.  This was not the case when I was a medical student; the work went on just as well without my presence as with it, and probably more efficiently without me. It's easy to feel like you're in the way as a student, especially when the residents are busy and not really thinking about giving you a job to do.  I don't have that feeling as a resident.  Feeling useful, feeling like a part of the team, makes a big difference in terms of how important the work seems.

I still don't enjoy the medicine part of OB.  I sometimes joke that I don't like women, don't like babies, and don't like women having babies.  But I don't hate OB either, and I feel like what I'm getting out of the rotation is worthwhile, even though it isn't always fun while I'm going through it.