Pretending to be Interested in OB/GYN To Get Free Food (or An IUD at an OB/GYN Party)

Sorry about the dearth of posts in the past few months, second year is much more time consuming than first year, especially once you get closer to Step 1 season. (This is going to be a very "rusty" post)

A couple of days ago I received an email saying that there was going to be an OB/GYN interest group meeting and that there would be some free food involved. I was starving, so I decided to see if people interested in OB/GYN were actually human.

I walked down to the conference room where the meeting was being held, and the first thing that I noticed was that there was one of the staff members guarding the door to make sure that nobody came in, grabbed food, and left. Clearly they knew that there wasn't going to be a lot of interest in OB/GYN today.

So I put on my best "I can't wait to deliver babies for the rest of my life" face and confidently walked past the food police to sit down at the conference table, as if I didn't even come for the free food. And it must have worked because all of the other OB/GYNites seemed to accept me as one of their own.

As I began to look around at what kind of people would actually want to go into OB/GYN, I was struck by the fact that they seemed normal, on the outside at least. (I was also struck by the fact that they didn't have any food). Clearly, I was the only second year student at the meeting, but I did my best to act like a first year while deftly avoiding their conversations about the neuroanatomy test that they had coming up.

The food finally arrived (baked potatoes, chili and broccoli--not great but better than going hungry) and I took as many of the chocolate chip cookies that I could reasonably fit on my plate, which didn't seem to bother any of the other 8 obstetrics lovers, their stock was rising.

So what kind of people go to an OB/GYN meeting? One was a mother, the other women couldn't wait to be, and the two guys that were there seemed to be a little to excited to be around this many women (as evidenced by their laughing at anything that was said). Needless to say, the topic of conversation was babies--which I love, but I don't need to spend lunchtime for the rest of my life discussing every bit of infant minutia.

When the doctor finally arrived who was heading up the meeting, everyone quieted down and waited for him to begin. But before I continue, a brief quiz:

Which of the following is a group of OB/GYNs and which is a group of orthopedists?

A)












(don't let their smiles fool you, they're miserable on the inside)

B)











Back to the story, so the OB/GYN doctor talks about his life in medicine, how he came to be doing what he's currently doing etc. There really wasn't anything especially interesting or unique to his story, aside from the fact that he mentioned he worked in rural Arkansas for a few years after finishing his residency, and though I hate to admit it, he actually seemed pretty normal.

Then came the questions, someone asked, "I heard that OB/GYN is awful and getting worse" or something to that effect.

To which he responded that things weren't necessarily getting worse, but that those who had spent a lot of time in practice were noticing that OB/GYN had changed dramatically from what it was when they started as doctors; less individuals, more groups, doctors who were more concerned about lifestyle than just seeing a lot of patients.

Someone else asked a question about malpractice (OB/GYN's have to pay for malpractice insurance 18 years after they're done practicing!), and then a few questions later and it was over.

As I walked out, I was struck by the fact that those interested in OB/GYN are actually quite normal, as long as by normal you mean that they enjoy the thought of putting thousands of dollars towards paying malpractice and talking about children and women's reproductive organs 24/7.