“The mentorship in OBGYN is huge.
We have to depend on each other; we cannot do this alone.”
The following story extract is from a conversation with an OBGYN mentor and mentee.
Mentee: I always wanted to be a doctor. Since fourth grade it was my north star. My son was asking about this the other day: did I find out I was good at science first, or did I want to be a doctor first? For me, it was always about wanting to be a doctor, and thankfully it turned out I was good at it. I’ve always loved people.
I thought I’d be a family doctor in Montana, but I was really drawn to OB. During my rotation in Boise, a doctor told me, “Don’t go into family medicine—you clearly love OB. It really drives you. You should become an OBGYN.” Then I got feedback that I was a good surgeon, good with my hands. I didn’t like pediatrics or internal medicine, so I became an OBGYN.
I met my husband during our third year of medical school in Seattle. He’s a fifth-generation Idahoan. So it was clear we’d be moving to Idaho after training. He was a river guide throughout college, medical school, even residency summers, and he took my mentor down the Middle Fork. He said, “Oh, my wife wants to be an OBGYN.” We were fourth-year medical students then—maybe fifth; it took us a while to get through.
During my first year of residency on the East Coast, I got a call from you asking if I basically wanted a job. I said I didn’t even know how to deliver a baby yet and she should get back to me in a couple years—which she did. I flew out to Boise, and I basically fell in love with everything. I went back to my residency group and said, “I love this group. This gal, she wears the coolest earrings and I just want to be her.” They asked what the problem was, and I said, “It’s not downtown Boise, which is where I thought we’d live for sure.” They asked how far away it was—eight miles. They said, “Oh my gosh, get over yourself. Go join your family.”
Or as I remember it—“Go join your friend.” And that’s how I recall our origin story. I joined the group, and it was very obvious that’s where I needed to be. My start date was September 1, 2011. And then I got pregnant—with a due date of September 1, 2011. My mentor was probably the third person I told. I officially started in November.
Mentor: I trained in the Midwest and practiced for a year and a half there, but then I wanted to try something new. My husband had done a rotation out here in pediatrics in Twin Falls.
We came out to visit. We went skiing one day, float fishing the next. I thought, this place is great. We just took a risk. We were new-ish grads and didn't have much to lose. So we took a chance, and it was a great place.
For me, it's the relationship you have with patients. In obstetrics and gynecology, it's automatically pretty close, pretty intimate. You deal with things you don't deal with in any other sphere, unless maybe cancer, because it affects a big part of your life. Seeing a woman get pregnant, then have the kid, watching that kid grow up, then she gets pregnant again—you see her family grow. You also see the hard stuff and walk with her when pregnancies don't work out, or when marriage or divorce happens. Just having that tight relationship is great.
