I found obstetrics and gynaecology quite interesting. Box Hill Hospital was a good hospital to do Obstetrics and Gynaecology placements – we had birth suite, theatres for gynaecology and C-sections, clinics for antenatal care, postnatal care, gynaecology and miscarriage, and inpatient foetal assessment as well. I learnt a lot across the diverse offerings – and was able to get all the tasks on my logbook ticked off relatively early.

My hours were on average 3 to 3.5 days in the hospital a week, which was quite manageable, especially compared to my General Practice rotation, which I had just come off. There was a week of lectures at Monash Medical Centre before the rotation, which I didn’t find particularly helpful. Perhaps the knowledge did enter my head though and I just didn’t know.

I had the chance to do one night shift this rotation, which involved my going in at 9pm and leaving at 7am. I slept throughout the day the next day, and my sleep cycle completely reset properly.

I had seen a vaginal birth during paediatrics at the beginning of the year, and although I had a bit of trouble in this rotation to tick off my two vaginal births, it was not an issue in the end. I had also seen a C-section at the beginning of this year, where the woman cried. That was the first time I had seen a childbirth – and at the time, I didn’t realise why the woman was crying. However, looking back, growing a baby inside your tummy, and suddenly having responsibility of the entire life another being, can indeed be an emotional and/or traumatic event. I had no trouble with my births, although some other people had to go in for many extra shifts in order to see births.

Being on an obstetrics rotation was also eye opening because it showed me everything that could go wrong, and makes me worried if I am ever to be a father. A lot of the mothers in the public system don’t like having a medical student in the room, especially a male one, and even though it was annoying for logbook, I do understand why. We honestly don’t know that much and if they have never seen us, and they have the power to say no, why would they want to add to the stress? Asking to see a birth is always a balance between being determined and initiative-driven enough, but also maintaining the patient’s autonomy.

The doctors vs nurses ‘hatred’ was also very interesting to observe. We interact much with the nurses, especially on birth suite, but they don’t really have responsibility for our logbook, nor care about it as much. The doctors definitely remembered the trouble with the logbook and were more helpful with it, on a general basis. The medical team at Box Hill Hospital was lovely, and I really enjoyed working alongside them. I did meet some very lovely nurses, but I just didn’t have as much in common with them.

Most midwives were female – I only met one male midwife. I also only met a couple of male doctors – one HMO, one reg and one consultant. At Box Hill at least, it was a female dominated workforce.

Birth suite was definitely the highlight of the rotation, but through the clinics, I also got to get a lot of insight into other parts of women’s health.

I met an HMO who was on miscarriage clinic – and this was her first time on an O and G shift since medical school, because she was not in the O and G team and was just covering. This made me think – in four years, this might be me – where the only O and G experience I had would be in medical school. I felt quite scared that that could be my next O and G experience – where I wouldn’t know that much than I do now – but I guess I would have broad experience having worked as a doctor for a couple of years.

Looking back, it is amazing how much knowledge I gained, on such a crucial part of many people’s lives. It made me even more passionate about learning as much as I can about medicine, both academically and clinically.