The gynaecology career path is respectable and highly-paid. But is gynaecologist a good career for you? From pros and cons to daily work life, Dr. Neelu Koura, Obstetrician & Gynecologist, discusses all you need to know.
1. Gynaecology Career Path: What Does a Gynaecologist Do?
A gynaecologist is a type of medical professional who diagnoses and treats the diseases of the women, such as reproductive health, pregnancy and health issues specific to women’s health. There are three different fields in this profession – obstetrics (pregnancy & delivery), gynaecology (female health) and reproductive medicine. A gynaecologist has to be trained both as a medical specialist as well as a surgical specialist.
Contents: Jump to Section
1.2 Social Image
1.3 Reasons to Become a Gynaecologist
2.2 Physical Demands
2.3 Psychological Demands
3.2 Related Hobbies to Take Up
3.3 Related Movies/ TV Shows
3.4 Related Fiction to Read/ Novels
4.2 Traveling Required
4.3 Average Workday/What to Expect
5.2 Threats from Automation
5.3 Common Reasons for People to Quit
1.1 Industry/Sector
Private healthcare, government and public sector.
A gynaecologist can be employed in a private or government hospital.
1.2 Social Image
Highly respected.
Doctors are considered one of the most highly respected professionals in India, and even in the world. Among medical professions, gynaecology in itself is a super-specialization and is considered in high regards by people since gynecologists do OPD counseling as well as surgery. Also, within this profession, obstetrics and reproductive medicine are very well-respected since we help our patients create a family, which is a fulfilling and important thing in the society.
1.3 Reasons to Become a Gynaecologist
Good salary, self-employment, choice of specialization according to your lifestyle/interest.
As a doctor of any type, your knowledge is your USP, nobody can be at par with you without spending years in learning the skill-set, gaining knowledge and gaining experience. Self-employment is another big advantage. Thirdly, if you work hard, being a doctor will certainly be financially self-sufficient. It also gives you a lot of satisfaction that you’re able to help people and make them happy. So at the end of the day, this is a fulfilling job.
The best thing about the field of gynaecology is that it is a super-specialization in itself.
Just one degree makes you a complete super-specialist. And it gives you the skill-set of being a medical specialist as well as a surgical specialist. For me, I enjoy it because it gives me the opportunity to treat patients medically as well as surgically.
Also, as a woman, I relate to the patients who come to my clinic. I enjoy helping them out with my medical knowledge and my experience as a woman. It gives me a lot of satisfaction that I can help women out by understanding their situation. So this profession satisfies all my passions – as a doctor, as a surgeon and as a woman.
Gynaecology career path also gives you the choice. For example, if someone wants to do a fixed hour job, they can practice reproductive medicine, instead of obs and gynae. However, I’d like to clarify that this choice comes later in the career, and not in the early years.
It’s also one of the most respectable jobs for women.
Additionally, there is less work-pressure in the gynaecology career path compared working in MNC’s or other professions for women. For other careers, the society or family may also pressure a woman to leave her job because of unreasonable work hours or bad work environment. But people are more supportive for women in gynaecology. It is a profession where no one will stop a woman from going to a hospital late at night, etc. People tend to understand commitments of women towards the career better if they are doctors.
Self-employment is another big advantage. You can start your own clinic with minimum investment, and if you’re knowledgeable, ethical and hard working, it’ll certainly help you be financially independent.
2. What It Takes to Be a Gynaecologist
2.1 Personality Traits Required/ Preferred
Hard working, perseverance, patience, politeness, good communication skills, ability to work for long or odd hours. Sensitive, empathetic, ready to be on the move throughout the day,
2.2 Physical Demands
Time, This career demands a lot of time. Your time is not yours.
Time becomes the biggest expectation of your patients, who expect you to be available at any hour, both over the phone and physically.
2.3 Psychological Demands in the Gynaecology Career Path
A career in gynaecology or any type of medicine doesn’t give immediate results.
You’ll reach a point at a certain age where people your age in other professions would be living a more settled life, earning decently. However, for a doctor, everything will come after investing more time. No time for socialization.
There’s also work pressure in the gynaecology career path – everything’s expected right from you. There is no scope for error. Furthermore, as a doctor, some things are not in your hand, even if you explain it well, but you as a doctor and as a human being are unable to get away with some unforeseen issues or circumstances. This interferes with your personal life. Mentally, you cannot get yourself detached from your work. Being a doctor is not a 9 to 5 job where you can be mentally free when you come home after work hours.
You also have to keep your cool no matter what issues you come across as a doctor. This job demands the best of your attitude at all times. A doctor has to be patient even if the patients or their family members are being unreasonable.
3. How to Build Interest in a Career in Gynaecology
3.1 Extra-Curricular Activities Recommended
Public speaking, activities to develop digital skills, gain business development knowledge.
Take up extra-curricular hobbies unrelated to gynaecology or medicine. Once you enter any medical profession, it is taken for granted that you’ll only be doing that. Medical career is extremely demanding and all you time is spent gaining experience, skills and knowledge related to your own profession. You’ll realize while practicing that you need other skills too. So in college/school, try to learn about other skills/activities like digital or computer skills. These will help you make presentations, or make your website, etc.
3.2 Related Hobbies to Take Up
I would say that you should try and develop all other skills as much as you can. So spend your time gaining other skills like digital skills, business acumen or communication skills. The training of this profession is so graded and gradual, that you don’t need any prior knowledge or training to be a doctor beforehand. Once you get into med school, a major chunk of your life will be spent studying medicine. So spend your early years taking up other hobbies and developing other interests. These will become your stress-busters later, and may even help you in your profession.
3.3 Related Movies/ TV Shows
Grey’s anatomy is the only good one I’d recommend, as all other movies and TV series I’ve watched are totally unrealistic!
3.4 Related Books to Read
4. Life as a Gynaecologist
4.1 Part-Time Options
As a clinician, there are usually no part-time options in the gynaecology career path. You may be able to find part-time opportunities as a visiting gynaecologist at a hospital or as a visiting faculty at a medical college. However, that’ll be an extra work added to your full-time job.
4.2 Traveling Required
Doctors in some specialties do take up visiting opportunities, wherein they go to see patients either for consulting or operations at a certain hospital or area. However, travel is not compulsory in this profession and will be based on your own interest and situation.
4.3 Average Workday/ What to Expect in the Gynaecology Career Path
In the gynaecology career path, there are three main fortes or sub-professions. Your daily routine will depend on what you specialize in.
- Obstetrician
- Gynaecologist Surgery
- Reproductive Medicine Specialists
The daily routine of a gynaecologist is similar to that of any doctor. Like in the morning, we start by visiting our patients admitted in the hospital in IPD. Then we have to be at our OPD outpatient department office to consult patients who are visiting there. If you are a surgeon, you’ll usually have surgeries planned during fixed hours in the operation theatre.
If you are into obstetrics, you have to see antenatal patients (pregnant patients) to consult them on pregnancy care. You also have to see the patients who are due to deliver the baby. Obstetricians take the responsibility of monitoring their labour, and physically delivering the baby. If you are in an institute, perhaps junior obstetricians will be doing that job under your guidance. However, you have the responsibility of overseeing the deliveries and ensuring the health of the mother and baby.
Reproductive medicine specialists only work in the outpatient department (OPD). That is, you’ll have to consult the patients visiting you regarding fertility treatments. You’ll have to guide and plan their treatments, consult them for prerequisite medical check-ups or procedures.
Reproductive medicine also involves a bit of surgery too. Some investigative diagnostic procedures are surgical, so you’ll be spending some of your time doing those surgical procedures. If you are into artificial reproductive techniques (ART), you’ll also be spending some of your time in the operation theatre or IVF labs.
There are some gynaecologists who do all three of these specializations. So their daily routine will depend on how many patients of what they are having. Sometimes, there may be too many patients for fertility consultancy, that you may not be able to cater to obs and gynae.
For example, personally, I practice reproductive medicine, obstetrics and gynecology – all three.
And I also have my own hospital. So apart from my clinical work, I also have to devote time into administrative work, staff management and management of my institute. And because I am the only gynaecologist responsible here, so I am on call even at night. This is because obstetrics patents can land up at any time for deliveries or emergency care. So being an entrepreneur and dealing with all three aspects of gynaecology keeps me on my toes 24×7!
How many hours does a gynecologist work? Well, that totally depends on your clinic and the hours you have set for consultation. You generally start your clinic at 9 or 10 am, and visitation/OT hours are usually until 7 or 8, after which you are on call for emergency patients.
5. Future of the Gynaecology Career Path
5.1 Retirement Prospects
There is no retirement age as such for doctors in private practices.
Retirement in this profession only happens for professionals who are working in government healthcare systems or government hospitals/ medical colleges. They formally retire at the age of 60. However, a self-employed doctor or a doctor working in a private hospital retires only when his or her body is not able to keep up with the work.
In the gynaecology career path, professionals who retire from government set-ups usually join private hospitals as consultants. Some of them start their own practice where they just consult patients, sometimes like a part-time job. Doctors in private set-ups can generally decide themselves when they want to lessen their workload and stop being on call. After this, they usually start just a consultancy practice, where patients visit and they prescribe medicine or give their medical advice. This helps them decrease their long hours of commitment.
5.2 Threats from Automation
No.
The biggest advantage of this profession is that it has no threats from automation, because no one can replace a doctor. Advanced technology may lessen the physical contact of doctors with patients in the future. You may be able to consult or even treat patients from wherever. But machines will not be able to give advice or treat patients.
5.3 Common Reasons for People to Quit the Gynaecology Career Path
Extra-long work hours, stress or medico-legal mishap.
One of the top reasons because of which a person can quit the gynaecology career path, or any medical profession, is medico-legal complications. A heavy medico-legal complication can destroy the entire career of a doctor. Or it may demoralize him or her so much that one can decide to quit the career.
Long hours may also make a gynaecologist or any doctor for that matter, to realize that they don’t want such a lifestyle. They may choose to do administrative or management work instead that has fixed or limited hours.
Read next:
How to Become a Gynaecologist
A career as obstetrician and gynecologist is a great idea. From course requirements to fees to salary range, here’s how to become a gynaecologist in India. Read more here.
Dr. Neelu Thapar Koura is a Obstetrician, Gynecologist and General Physician in Moga, Punjab. With an experience of 15 years in these fields, Dr. Neelu Thapar Koura is the Managing Director at Gomti Thapar Hospital, which also houses her fertility and IVF clinic. She did her MBBS from GS Medical College in 1999 and MD – Obstetrics & Gynaecology from Sardar Patel Medical College in 2004. You can find more information about these fertility treatments and Dr. Neelu Test Tube Baby Centre, and contact her by emailing [email protected].
Thank you so much for sharing this article.
It has given us a lot of clarity to our objective, purpose and the way forward.
Thanku soo much for sharing.It is really informative.