Boston Med: Tale of Two OB- GYN Residents

July 29, 2010— -- Dr. Rachel Clark is always in a small state of dread when she's on the job.

"I'm always worried because when things go wrong, they go terribly wrong," said the OB-GYN resident, about working on the labor floor of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. It's where she sees some of "the sickest pregnancies in the world."

In terms of statistics and morbidity, "being pregnant is the most dangerous thing an American woman will do in her lifetime," Clark believes. With that in mind, the Kentucky native, in her second year of training, can never quite relax. Typically, she puts in an 80-hour work week, many times working night shifts, and is often on-call.

With no margin for error, Clark admits work is her first priority. She must put everything else second, including her boyfriend Jeff, who works as a venture capitalist.

"Your home life kind of goes to crap, for lack of a better word," she said. "I would not want to date me right now."

With five more years of training ahead of her, Clark didn't know if her long term relationship with Jeff could stand the strain, but she knew she wasn't willing to let her work slip. In a year when hundreds of healthy babies are delivered, it takes just one tragic complication to haunt young doctors-in-training and sometimes taint their career outlook.

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Clark recalls becoming emotionally torn up after a bad patient outcome and seeing the family's reactions.

"It's just like seeing people's hopes just go down the tubes. It's terrible," she said. "And I understand because of that, why the malpractice is so out of control in obstetrics."

Concerned about the dwindling number of medical students interested in the specialty, the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) launched a recruitment campaign five years ago to examine and combat the negative views of the trade.

One of the concerns cited by students was the economic factor. The field involves a lot of malpractice suits, where OB-GYNs must also personally pay, at times, skyrocketing malpractice insurance premiums.