" It ’s all very engaging , emotional , and rewarding . "
It’s a valid question we’ve all wondered before: if you’re a male gynecologist, why did you choose your profession?
Now, our biggest burning question has been answered. Inone Reddit thread, male OB/GYNs and their family members shared why they chose to go into the field, and I’m actually surprised at how heartwarming their answers are. I’ve rounded up 17 of the best responses, below:
1.“Male OB/GYN in my 30s from Europe here. Several reasons, but maybe the most important and formative experience for me was when, after med school, I was living in the Horn of Africa for a couple of years.”
2.“I’m a male gynecologist of six years. Working in a hospital outside the US. During our education, we do rotations in every field, and gynecology was one of the most diversified fields. I’ll do deliveries, small operations, or laparoscopic surgery as well as bigger stuff. Here we even do breast surgery and administer adjuvant chemotherapy ourselves. So I get to do all the fun stuff, and it never gets boring. Sorry to everyone thinking I’m looking at vulvas 24/7. Most of what I do is talking, to be honest.”
– Myd00 MiB
3.“Originally, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I entered medical school, and if you had asked me, OB/GYN was at the bottom of the list based on everything negative I’d heard. My third-year rotation, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. You get to do a little of everything: medicine, surgery, primary care, office procedures, and obviously delivering babies, which was awesome.”
" On top of that , I mislay my mother during aesculapian school , who was my big role model . Being capable to be there in the room with new moms during their happy second just kinda made it all click for me . Do n’t regret my decision at all . "
– EpeePaul
4.“Male OB/GYN here. Lots of reasons! I am genuinely excited every time I get to be part of bringing a child into the world. As a dad to daughters, I feel responsible for making the world a safer place for women to seek healthcare.”
5.“It felt like an extremely well-rounded profession. You get to do inpatient and outpatient. You get to do office procedures, laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery, vaginal surgery, and open surgery. You get to do hands-on ultrasounds and not just read them. You get to deliver babies!”
6.“People who think it’s to look at vaginas all day don’t realize in a professional medical setting, looking at genitals for a doctor is the equivalent of a mechanic looking at another motor. Nothing sexual or arousing about it. Many people I know have reduced sex drives while working on their OB rotations in school because it’s just another vulva.”
– ElPuertoRican15
7.“My dad is/was one. Got into it because he really liked the excitement of delivering babies. Stayed in it because he likes surgery.”
– spastic_raider
8.“Gyn-oncologist for 20 years. Great job that has always had lots of variety and evolved over time. Started with a focus on obstetrics, delivering babies, and experiencing the adrenaline and privilege of being there for that big moment with people. Slowly evolved towards gynae and cancer, learning high-end surgery, using cool kits, dealing with highly challenging scenarios, and constantly learning and developing.”
" This coincided with move away from the exhausting after - hours piece of work . be intimate my job , and if I were severally financially comfortable , I would still do it for spare . "
– needlenoise
9.“To people outside of medicine, this is a common question. And it’s usually included with something along the lines of, ‘how can you effectively care for women with women-specific issues if you havent experienced those yourself?’ Seems like a very reasonable question.”
10.“My first gynecologist was a gyn-oncologist. I had to go to him early in life due to family history. He got into the field because the deaths of his mom and grandma affected him deeply; they died of vaginal cancer. My mawmaw also had vaginal cancer, very late stage. With his help, she was able to beat it and lived another 15 years. He did a lot of pro bono work, which the hospital board wasn’t happy about. But since he was one of the best guys in the field, they really couldn’t do anything about it.”
– Switchbladekitchen
11.“Male OB/GYN here, with a post on fetal medicine, sexology, and a fellowship in fertility/reproduction. As others have already said, OB/GYN is an extremely diverse field with a lot going on. There’s major surgery to be done, then you’re off in an office talking about anything, then on an ultrasound machine performing morphology checks, and then a phone rings and you’re over there helping bring someone into the world. It’s all very engaging, emotional, and rewarding.”
– prpg03
12.“It sounds made up every time I say it, butThe Cosby Showfirst got me interested in that sort of work. My mom was a single mom, and I would picture myself with a nice house, good money, all the while getting to work from my home office, lol. Once I was in medical school, I enjoyed bringing life into the world, and the other stuff obviously faded away.”
– Shoddy - egg1582
13.“As a male gynecologist, I understand that my chosen career path may seem unusual to some people. However, for me, it was a natural choice that was driven by a desire to help women with their reproductive health and to make a difference in their lives.”
14.“I asked my doctor that once. He said he’d done a rotation on cardiac, and men were the whiniest wooses. When he did the OB/GYN rotation, he said, ‘damn those women are tough as nails.’ So that’s why he chose it.”
– ValiMeyer
15.“Male OB/GYN resident here. This field is so much more than just delivering babies. There is plenty of pathology to explore and research. The field allows variety in schedules with combining outpatient clinic, outpatient surgeries, inpatient admissions, as well as ICU-level care.”
" It in spades supply to people who care variety in their employment calendar week . In one mean solar day alone , I can counsel a 65 - twelvemonth - old about a last diagnosing , and then a few 60 minutes later help a house receive a young minor they ’ve been waiting seven years for . It ’s mentally taxing , for sure , but is always interesting . "
– touche24
16.“Late answer, but my OB/GYN is my step-grandpa’s brother-in-law. He was the one who helped my mom give birth to me 20 years ago, who had an extremely difficult pregnancy. He says he became an OB/GYN because he grew up in a little village with minimal health resources, let alone OB/GYNs! So he has three offices, one in the city in a hospital, one in a secluded village, and one in the suburbs.”
– strippedallbutpr1de
17.“My Dad is an OB/GYN surgeon and when I asked him years ago why he chose to be one, he simply shrugged and said, ‘Women go through a lot of shit and a lot of that shit comes from men; so I wanted to make it a little better for them all.’ Guess he always had the simplest of explanations.”
– Zack_Knifed
Note : Responses have been edit for length / clarity .
