Hello to everyone!

I'm new to this site, and--suprise!--I don't have kids or a husband and I'm not even premed (yet) . Here's my dilemma:

I'd always wanted to be a baby doctor, but when I heard so many negative things about the field of OB/GYN, I decided to switch majors to become a nurse midwife instead. I'm now starting my senior year of college (for a BSN, although I have half the premed requirements done already) and am really starting to regret my choice. I can hardly sit through my nursing classes anymore! I find myself wishing I was taking cellular bio and biochem instead of learning how to write a care plan for the umpeenth time.

So I guess this is what it boils down to: My skills and personality are much more suited to a doctor's job, but being a nurse is the "easy way out" and will afford me more time with my family. But I'm already dreading the day my future daughter will say, "oh, my mom always wanted to be a doctor, but she never did it because she wanted a family." aaah!

I've been going back and forth on this issue for three years now. My (serious) boyfriend is supportive of whatever I decide to do and he understands what my choices might mean for him, too.

Any advice would be helpful, esp from you MDs and med students who know what OB/GYN is really like! (I'm also thinking about endocrinology, immunology/infectious diseases and primary care).

Thanks! Sorry about the rant!
amy
(home: WI/school: MN)

Hello Amy,

I have heard the same thing about nursing school from people here who are more motivated to be physicians. --hard to sit through the classes, they don't go far enough, etc--. However, I seriously considered CNM for a while and spoke to several of them, shadowed one. They all LOVED their jobs and swore they had it 100 times better than the docs. So that is really something to take into consideration when you are deciding. Have you shadowed a midwife? Or at least interviewed one? If baby catching is what you really want to do, I think CNM is not a bad way to go. Anyone correct me if I am wrong, but as a CNM I believe you don't have the horrific insurance rates and overhead that are driving OB/GYN's out of practice. That may depend on your type of practice...Anyway, Amy you should check into the business end of things too.

Good Luck,

Val

Hello! I am starting med school in just a few weeks (eek! ) and am also interested in OB/Gyn. I am married and have an 8 month old baby girl, as well as a 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. For me I believe the doctor route would be the only one I'd be happy with. I think it's partly a personality issue, but also I simply want a wider scope of practice. I want to perform c-sections, hysterectomies, vaginal deliveries, some gyn. oncology, etc....not just be a baby catcher. I guess if I thought I'd be happy with just that then I'd definately take the CNM route, because, boy! would that save some headaches.

Best of wishes no matter what path you choose!

Raina N. Schuhwerk
U. Kentucky - COM
Class of 2006!

Thanks for the thoughts, Raina and Val!

*Val-yes, I did shadow a midwife, and yes, she swore her job was 100 times better than a doc's too! However, she did tell me of two midwives in an independent practice that were spontaneously kicked off of a health care plan (and it may have been physician-motivated). Yes, midwives have lower insurance rates, but they also have lower salaries and I hear they sometimes have trouble getting fully reimbursed by medicare. ...But at the same time, I do know an MD facing the same kind of issues--only more extreme because she's in a solo practice!

*Raina-I totally understand what you mean! I can definitely see where doing only baby catching and checkups can get pretty boring. I'm doing my internship right now, and my post-surg hyst and female uro patients are SO INTERESTING! I never thought I'd like surgery, but I've become fascinated with the op and path reports Hopefully my nursing experience will be a plus on my med school app :rolleyes:

I'll keep you all posted on my situation. It's great to know there are other women with the same kind of worries as mine!

Don't worry Amy, I think these days your nursing experience will be viewed as a plus. I've been told that historically it was a hindrance, but that this has changed over the years.

I agree with you about surgery! I never thought I would like such a thing, and then found out it's one of my main interests (although I don't think I'd want to *just* do surgery either).

Good luck to you in your internship and beyond!

Raina N. Schuhwerk
U. Kentucky - COM
Class of 2006!

Huge bump! haha, any new thoughts about this issue? I am contemplating going the CNM route as well. I'd love input from anyone who is interested in going into women's health at any level. Do CNM's get the respect and clinical time they are trained for? Anyone know what the potential salary can be like?

I'd like to reopen this up too - my question is if the lifestyle of a CNM is any more manageable than that of an OB? I would think that due to the nature of labor and birth, the time demands would be nearly the same, but on the other hand, CNMs might carry a smaller patient load than OBs? Any OBs or CNMs out there who could weigh in on this?

555 - I called around to an HR dept. at a hospital in WI, and they said they start their CNMs around 70K. I'm not sure what the potential salary progression throughout the career is.