6 Different Practice Styles for OB/GYNs in the USA

Hello again,

As a resident, I always felt like I was in the dark regarding what my practice options would be as an attending. The conventional model of private practice was all I knew, aside from the academic group model that I was exposed to during residency. Over the past year+ of searching and interviewing for jobs across the USA, I have discovered that there are so many different ways to practice as an OB/GYN.

Here is what I have gathered:

The traditional model of private practice is NO LONGER the only option. It’s a great option, depending on what you are looking for. Other practice modalities include:

Hospitalist: great if you’re looking for flexibility and work/life balance. Though you sacrifice those scheduled GYN cases like hysterectomies (unless emergent).

Academic group practice: great if you love to work with residents, teach, and constantly stay on your toes with the latest evidence based practice guidelines.

Hospital owned group practice: great if you want the continuity of a private practice but don’t want to have to run the business itself, and also if you want to have a guaranteed annual base pay.

County/City owned group practice: great if you’re passionate about helping vulnerable sector individuals and the responsibility of doing it all (since you won’t always have help from subspecialists). Also, they’ll typically sponsor J1 waivers and H1B visas!

Per diem or locums: great if you’re in between jobs and/or need a guaranteed income but aren’t able to sign a long-term contract.

Disclaimer: of course, there is much more to consider regarding these practice modalities than the simple pro and con lists that I have created. Please read/view this post understanding that it is simply a summary of my opinions that I thought would be worth sharing!

I hope this helps,

K