I was just switched to an OBGYN who finished their residency THIS YEAR..
kagwiz
member
I found out that my OBGYN is pregnant and will be on maternity leave the later part of my pregnancy and around my due date. The office switched all her patients over to a new doctor...
Going into it I knew that I didn't want a male doctor, didn't want a foreign doctor (no offense) and didn't want a super young doctor... well the doctor they switched me to is a young, foreign male that just finished his residency in 2012.
I really liked him - he was very nice, personable, pleasant, etc...but I can't help but feel a bit uneasy about the fact that he is brand spanking new... if this wasn't my first child/pregnancy...I might be a little more open to it and flexible...but I'm wondering if I should request to switch to another female doctor in the office that has been around a bit longer??
I am 26 weeks - so it isn't too late to switch...
Also - it is one of those hospitals where CHANCES ARE you aren't going to be delivered by your doctor anyway - you are delivered by whichever doctor is on call during that time - so maybe it isn't worth switching?
Does anyone else have a super young doctor or have any experience with brand new doctors?
I know there is potentially a lot of pros: newest technology, newest techniques, fresh mind, still has the passion, etc, etc, etc....
But what cons should be considered?
Maybe I am freaking out and over-reacting? 
Re: I was just switched to an OBGYN who finished their residency THIS YEAR..
I think he should be fine. You have to remember, to even have finished his residency, he has had to deliver a lot of babies under a lot of different circumstances. He's not going to get into the delivery room with you, panic and not know what to do, mess you all up, and then drop your baby. It'll be fine! Promise!
Plus, if you say that chances are baby won't be delivered by your doctor, then you really don't know who you will be dealing with at delivery at all. I wouldn't stress it.
Think about the things you do know about him:
- You like him
- He IS a doctor (a specialist even), even if he's just completed his residency
- Your old doctor thought he was good enough to transfer all her patients to him
That being said, if you just don't feel comfortable, find a new doctor. I don't think there is anything wrong with being wishy washy about your medical care.
I think that you need to go with your gut on this one. As a nurse, I work with a lot of residents and consultants with varying levels of expertise and background. Just like in any other profession, there are going to be good and bad physicians....regardless of how long they have been practicing. I have met some physicians who have been practicing for twenty years that I wouldn't let anywhere near my body. Just as I have met some newer physicians who I felt completely comfortable with.
If you met him and liked him, and feel that he was able to adequately answer your questions then I wouldn't let his newly completed residency status worry you. However, if you feel that he is scrambling, unorganized or get the sense that something is not going well then I would switch.
I don't think you are freaking out, it is a valid concern. The only con I can think of is that a newer physician does not have past experience as the primary or attending. However, they will have had a lot of experience in their residency.I will say, I work in a critical care setting. We rely on the residents 99% of the time at night. If something is going wrong with a pt, we call the resident on call, not the attending.
Also, when i first got out of college, my first primary was a new doctor just starting out. That was 7 years ago, he is still my primary physician, and he delivered my son, is my son's doc, my husband's and will be delivering this LO.
In the end though, it is all what you are most comfortable. Good luck with your decision.
All of this. I'm in nursing school and we are doing our maternlaty rotation right now. We saw a birth last week and the 3rd year and 1st year resident delivered the baby with the attending in the room teaching (mainly the 1st year). He definately know what he is doing.
If you like him I would stick with him.
I think deep down I am on the same page - just needed a little reassurance
Thanks everyone!
I had a older experienced dr. with my first pregnancy (been doing OB for somewhere around 30 years) and because he was the only one in town that would take me (I have a genetic blood clotting disorder that many OBs are not familiar with or comfortable taking on) and he was less than personable, acted like I shouldn't ask stupid little questions even though it was my first pregnancy, and just didn't seem to care very much. Thank God he is no longer doing OB (I have heard rumors it has something to do with malpractice) I had to go on a hunt for a new OB.
This time around I have a very young female OB (I mean YOUNG, I would honestly be surprised if she was even 30). But she is so personable, sweet, and extremely understanding about any silly questions I have. From my first meeting with her, I knew I wanted her to be my OB this time and a gal friend of mine used her for her pregnancy as well and said she was the best OB she has ever had.
Sometimes the younger ones are better in my opinion. They are fresh so they haven't had time to develop and attitude and bad bed side manner yet. They wouldn't be given a license if there were any issues with their practice. And they still have an enormous amount of compassion 
I'm sure you will be fine but if you honestly feel better with an older female dr., by all means change. Its all about who makes you the most comfortable and most doctors understand that.
I think you're over-reacting. I think that you're assuming just because an OB is female she'll relate more, just because an OB is older she'll be better at her job.
But, I also believe that you need to be comfortable with your dr. If your only reason is because he is "new" than have a conversation with him about how many babies he's delivered.
Honestly, as far as the newness of the doctor I wouldn't at all mind, especially if you're having a straightforward labor/delivery. It's not like he doesn't need a ton of medical training and a considerable amount of experience to get to where he is, I'm sure he's fully capable of handling your pregnancy and delivery. Now, if complications arise and for some reason you're questioning his care, it's not like you can't get a second opinion on things from an OB on staff or another one at your office. I really wouldn't worry about it unless during the course of your pregnancy care he gives you a reason to worry.
As far as your other concerns, I don't personally find them valid, but you're the one who needs to be comfortable with your care provider. If you're not comfortable with him then you need to find someone whom you are comfortable with. If you're with a practice where whoever is on staff is going to be delivering you then you need to be comfortable with every provider in that practice and acknowledge that it could be any one of them observing your labor and delivery.
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It sounds like you're feeling more comfortable already, but I wanted to echo that I would actually feel MORE comfortable with a new residency graduate (who has had high volumes of recent, up-to-date experience) than with an older OB who may still be doing outdated things like routine episiotomy, etc. If your doctor just completed residency, he's already been doing this for 4 years. And low-risk obstetrics is a pretty straightforward skill.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm totally biased--I'm in my final year of residency now.
Well, if it makes you feel better, brand new doctors (fresh out of residency) aren't really brand-spankin' new. He had to deliver some babies to finish his residency. He'll be fine.
My doctor is a resident, fyi.
I agree with this. Besides he is an attending doctor, just to become an attending you have many years of experience while in residency. We refer to 1st year residents as "baby doctors", but most of the 4th year residents I've dealt with I've been super confident that when they became attendings the next year they would rock it.
While the thought of having a new doctor is intimidating, I have found that newer doctors tend to be really good. A lot of these doctors have the latest knowledge and they may question things that older doctors normally wouldn't.
For example, I was given a new OB to the practice. When I mentioned that my mother and grandmother had a history of miscarriages, my OB took me seriously. We both decided to see if my first pregnancy would go well. Well, after my first M/C, we started getting a bunch of tests done as my own M/C and family history pointed to something being wrong. As it ended up, I was diagnosed with two blood clotting disorders (one of which was genetic). Long story short, my OB went the extra mile, and I am having a healthy baby now because of it.
My DS was delivered by a first year resident, with a 3rd year resident and an attending present. The attending that was there was just one year out of her residency. I would have no reservations about a doctor one year out of their residency based only on that fact.
If you truly don't feel comfortably then I don't think it's out of the question to ask to switch. You need to be able to ask questions and talk about some pretty personal things. But, if you feel comfortable enough, I'm not sure it would be worth a switch. Like you said, he may end up delivering your baby anyway if he is the one on-call that day.
If I got switched to a male, that would bea deal breaker for me. It is a very personal choice.
This.
I actually may even prefer a younger, fresh OB straight out of residency. I would feel that having your first set of patients is probably exciting for them, and while they've delivered babies before, they've never actually been THE delivering OB, so they're more apt to be personable with you and given their new status, thorough.
ETA:FWIW, My OB practice has 2 OBs and 2 midwives. Throughout your pregnancy, you see all 4 and try to get to know them a bit because whomever is on call during your L&D is who is going to be delivering your baby. Two of them are male, and they...are...awesome. I actually like them so much more than the female doctors, and I hope that either one of them will be on call when the baby is born.
I think everyone else pretty much summed it up, but I wanted to say that I personally prefer male ob's to females. I?ve had both, just my experience.
Ditto to the PPs. My doctor is also a resident, but she came HIGHLY recommended by my DH's family and previous doctor.
I agree, newer doctors have their perks .. They're usually more up-to-date in their training, less jaded, have a better bedside manner, and are very thorough and attentive because they are smart enough to realize they don't know it all yet.
While I'm slightly nervous that she may not have a ton of experience delivering babies, she's compassionate and willing to listen to (and address) my concerns. Heck, she even squeezed-in a quick physical at my first prenatal because I'm notorious for avoiding them like the plague. I'm also expecting she's going to be much more "present" during my pregnancy because this is all valuable experience for her. I'm not as concerned that she'll be MIA when I go into labour, which I may be if I were being overseen by an experienced OB with many other pregnant patients to care for too.
So while I can't really comment on the other two concerns you had (foreign and male), it wouldn't really matter because it sounds like you've worked-through those already. I hope you're pleasantly surprised by your new doctor's level of care during your pregnancy!