An obstetrics
Little children are born constantly. Therefore, health workers who work in maternity and counsel pregnant women are in demand in modern society. Of course, this is more a female sphere than a male, but the representatives of strong sex also have not a small number among obstetricians.
Description of the profession
The name of the profession comes from the French word meaning “Help at childbirth.” This profession belongs to the category of medical worker, which is understood in obstetrics, helps women during pregnancy, childbirth and taking care of a newborn. In order to get a job in the specialty obstetrician-gynecologist, in Ukraine, you need to have higher education in the field of Obstetrics. But do not be confused with the profession “obstetrician” because it is a middle-level worker with a secondary specialist medical education.
Obstetrician-gynecologist should have skills to work not only with pregnant women in the delivery room. You also need to be able to work in an operating room, to perform the functions of a pediatrician and a psychologist-neonatologist. One more important skill for a doctor of this specialty is the ability to work with medical equipment, medicine, to be able to conduct a qualifying examination and to provide emergency assistance.
Prospects for employment
An obstetrician-gynecologist can work in such institutions as:
- Maternity home;
- Women’s consultation;
- Family planning center;
- Private clinics.
Responsibilities
Obstetrician-gynecologist is needed at almost all stages of family planning and baby appearance.
- The responsibilities of counseling for women begin not with pregnancy, but from the moment of planning the future child. In the initial stages of treatment for such a specialist, the doctor should appoint a survey, examine the received data and the results of analyzes, and, if necessary, prescribe treatment or preventive measures and monitor their effectiveness.
- The second stage of work comes with the onset of pregnancy. The doctor could not participate in the planning process, but he was obliged to appoint a woman to complete all necessary examinations to determine if there were any infections, pathologies, or violations of the genetic development of the fetus.
- After confirmation of pregnancy, a future mother can be contacted with an obstetrician-gynecologist for a scheduled inspection, an assessment of the state of the expectant mother and the child throughout the pregnancy. It is such a specialist who can appoint a woman of preterm delivery or appoint a Caesarean section if necessary.
- In the hospital, the gynecologist monitors the process of delivery, makes a decision on emergency measures. It is the obstetrician who first receives the child and conducts the first visual review of the state of the newborn, if necessary, should provide the first emergency care.
- After the baby is born, the obstetrician-gynecologist watches for a newborn and mother for some time, advises, conducts scheduled examinations and can appoint the necessary therapy.
In addition, a specialist in such a profile has to have skills in diagnosing sexually transmitted infections and various diseases of the female reproductive system. In the period of pregnancy planning, the obstetrician-gynecologist is engaged in infertility problems. The doctor should prescribe an examination, find a cause, prescribe treatment and monitor his course, make adjustments to the treatment process if necessary.
How to become an obstetrician-gynecologist
The obstetrician doctor is obliged:
- To have a complete higher education in the specialty («Medicine», «Treatment» and «Obstetrics and Gynecology»);
- To go to an internship;
- To have experience in passing advanced training courses, undergo internship and certification;
- To obtain a certificate of a narrow-profile specialist in the direction of obstetrics.
An education
An obstetrician-gynecologist has to have a high qualification, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree, graduate from a postgraduate degree, and undergo an internship. You can study in a specialty first at a medical college, after which you can go to a medical university. Or at once go to a higher educational institution. Education is possible both in the state form and at the expense of individuals or legal entities and in private institutions.
Among the general disciplines, the specialty may include the following subjects:
- Anatomy;
- Anesthesiology and intensive care;
- Biochemistry and biophysics;
- Infectious diseases in obstetrics;
- Embryology and child development;
- Pharmacology (in obstetrics, neonatology, gynecology);
- Ethics and Philosophy of Obstetrics;
- Physiology and Genetics;
- Oncology and pathology in gynecology;
- Pediatrics and child care;
- Sexology;
- Psychiatry;
- Legal issues in the work of the obstetrician;
Candidates for training in the field of Obstetrics must also have personal characteristics such as humanity, tactics, resistance to stress, ability to make decisions quickly and act in emergency situations.