Salary of an obstetrician:

• Many doctors should understand that salary is highly flexible and depends on several factors like the work experience, private clinics, training, certification, location and the educational degree.
• A candidate with the combined degree in both the gynaecology and the obstetrics can earn more when compared to the person having degree in either of the two subjects.
• The salary of an Obstetrician also depends on the location she works. For example, New York pays more as the cost of living is very high when compared to the other locations.
• If the future obstetrician expects a good salary, she should be able to overcome the stress and also the working hours might be hectic.
• Once she passes the certification and the license exam, the salary of an obstetrician is a reward given to them for their hard work and dedication towards their work.
• As per the data collected in the year 2009, the average salary of an Obstetrician is in between $50,000 to $270,000.

Salary based on experience:

The obstetrician with less than one experience earns salary in between $49,443 and $207,767; the obstetrician having one to four years experience earns the salary in between $50,053 and $242,883; the salary earned by the obstetrician with five to nine years experience is $99,409 and $257,475; the professional with 20 years experience earns the salary ranging from $120,000.

The table below shows you the salary ranges of an obstetrician based on the experience.

Salary based on location:

Location is the other factor that depends on the salary of an Obstetrician.  An individual staying in high cost of living places gets higher salary when compared to those of low cost of living areas. Georgia is the highest state that pays more to an Obstetrician. The other states that provide high salary are New York, Texas, Florida and California. The below table lists out the salary ranges of the states based on the location she works in.

Salary based on Certification:

Salary earned by the Obstetrician depends on the Certification they take; if she is a certified primary care doctor, she is expected to earn the salary in the range of $170,000 – $275,000; the candidate with Surgery of board certification earns salary between $152,605 and $294,791.

Salary based on skills:

The salary earned by the obstetrician who is an expert in surgeries is in the range of $107,500 – $225,000.

Salary by Gender:

Gender is also one of the factors that depend on the salaries of an Obstetrician. The male to female ratio is 29% to 71%. Female candidates love to choose this profession when compared to the males. The table below shows the range of the salary based on the gender.

Salary based on Industry:

One of the factors that influence the salaries of an obstetrician is the industry they work for. The table below displays the salaries of the obstetrician based on the industry type.

What does an Obstetrician do?

Pregnancy is a special occasion where every woman feels proud to be a mother. Pregnancy is very critical issue and every woman hopes for a healthy child without any problems. If woman delivers a child without any issues, then that is the good thing for every member of her family. But there are lot of cases who faced few problems during the pregnancy period and at the time of delivery. All the family members are very much concerned about mother and baby growth at the time of pregnancy.  They want someone who takes care of woman and the baby inside. But who will take care?

The answer for this question is Obstetrician. Obstetrician is a person, who is educated and an expert in dealing with pregnant women.  Obstetrician will just not take care of the pregnant woman; he or she also takes care of the baby inside her. They are very specialized in dealing these sensitive cases. Obstetrician is a job that one can feel proud of. Obstetrician is one of the respectable professions one can choose from.

Majority of the people think that gynaecologist and Obstetrician are one and the same. But that’s not actually true. Gynaecologist is a person who is an expert in dealing with female reproductive system. Most of the Obstetricians are trained gynaecologists. So a student can learn both the courses and later they are left to decide their career path. Obstetricians will closely look and monitor the woman’s health during the entire period of pregnancy. They check it very frequently on a periodic basis.

Duties and Responsibilities of an Obstetrician

One of the major duties of an Obstetrician is to diagnose and treat the problems related to the pregnancy. Few other responsibilities carried out by an Obstetrician are as follows:

• They advice patients on a good diet, prevention of diseases and its cure and the hygiene.
• They prepare reports on birth, death, disease figures and also the medical status of the individuals.
• Treat women during pregnancy and after the child birth as well.
• Checks and analyze the test results to find out the medical condition of the patients.
• Explains test results and treatment of the procedures very clearly to the patients.
• Notes down the progress of the patients on a regular basis.
• Manages and maintains the records of the patient’s information like medical histories and the examination results done on periodic basis.
• Tries to preserve patient’s health and do caesareans or surgeries if necessary.
• Refers to medical experts if the patient’s health is worse.
• Treats diseases related to female organs.
• Prescribes medication to the patients in order to treat them from the illness they are suffering from.
• Consults with other medical experts if required.
• Plans and implements various health programs in hospitals to treat the patients from the sickness.
• Investigates on the medications and develops it to prevent the sickness of the patients.
• Organizes the work done by the nurses, experts and therapists.
• Monitors patients health periodically during the period of pregnancy; also gives good suggestions to keep her fit and healthy.
• Takes care of the administration work like giving appointments to the patients and purchasing office and medical equipments.
• Obstetricians also work on the health problems of the pregnant woman who are at a higher risk.

Gives suggestions on family planning.

Skills to become an Obstetrician:

• Listening skills are must to have for an Obstetrician.
• These skills are must to understand the ailments and the problems of the patients.
• Should have critical thinking and should be sensitive to the patients needs.
• Critical thinking helps them to take quick and fast decisions while in emergency.
• Obstetricians always are at the service of the people; that means they always want to help the patients in all the possible ways.
• Should also possess reasoning skills; these skills help them to analyze the patient information even if the entire information is not available.
• Should possess diagnostic skills.
• Excellent communication skills are required to communicate the information clearly with the patients and the co-doctors as well.
• Commitment and dedication is also required when working in a service based industry.
• Healing skills are required to decide the perfect treatment and medications for the patients.
• There are no specific working hours for an Obstetrician; he should be able to approach any time at the time of emergency.
• Counselling skills are also required to educate the pregnant women and her husband on the child care.
• Ability to use hands and fingers to improve the health of the patients.
• Should be able to work under any circumstances.
• Should be able to understand the techniques that are used in the treatment and should be able to explain it clearly to the patients.
• Should possess business management skills.

About certifications:

• Majority of the Obstetricians concentrate on the sub-specialities.
• For the obstetricians to practice medicine in various specialities, he or she should take the certification exam.
• The Obstetricians may get certified in oncology, fetal medicine and hospice medicine through the American board.
• They are capable to study in order to clear the certifications and that makes them to concentrate on their career for a longer period.
• These experts have passion to learn and study throughout their career.
• Little advancement in the medicine field needs the Obstetricians to continue their education continuously for few more years.
• Many of these professionals can start practice on their own.
• For them to start their own practice, they must possess business management skills.
• They have the skills to manage the employees and their payroll while maintaining good relationships with the patients.
• There are also obstetricians who hire office managers to take care of the office.
• The last step to become an Obstetrician is to pass the certification exam conducted by the American board.
• Taking up the certification means that the obstetrician has met all the requirements to become an obstetrician. In order to be a certified person, the Obstetrician should pass both the written and the oral exam.
• The certified experts can chose any of the other certifications in their specialization. Taking certifications on certifications will help him to grow in his career.

Educational requirements to become an Obstetrician:

It is a long journey for an individual to become an Obstetrician. In this process, you will learn all the concepts related to obstetrics and also undergo much training given by the professionals. These special trainings help them to carry out the work effectively.

One must have a bachelor degree to take up the course. The next thing is to complete the four year course in the medical college and then an internship program for one year. Then, the individual should complete the residency graduate education program which takes 4 to 6 years to complete.

Here are few steps in detail that helps you to know the educational requirements:

• Before you become an obstetrician, you should earn a bachelors degree.
• In your course, you should mainly concentrate on science subjects like chemistry, biology and anatomy.
• Getting a good grade also adds as an advantage for you to become an Obstetrician.
• In addition of getting an outstanding grade, you should also pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
• You should also be able to get through the interview conducted with the faculty.
• Once you get a good grade and pass the interview, it’s the time for your medical training.
• This course gets completed in four years; the first two years will be dealt with the concepts of pharmacology, microbiology and biochemistry and the last two years will have practice sessions.
• This is the time when you practice work at clinics or in hospitals. In the fourth year, you should be in a position to decide on your specialization.
• Once you are done with the entire four years, you will win the title of M.D.
• Next comes the residency program; this takes another four years for completion.
• In this program, you will learn the actual duties and responsibilities of an obstetrician or the gynaecologist.
• Here, you need to diagnose, analyze and execute the treatment plans.
• You will perform all these duties under the supervision of an expert and you will guide the medical students.
• Year by year, you will learn to perform more complicated surgeries and should handle several responsibilities.
• Once you are employed as an Obstetrician, you should work continuously for many hours as most of your patients would be pregnant women and they may give birth any time.
• After completion of your residency program, you should take a certification exam managed by the American board.

Choosing a career in this field is stressful as you need to work for more hours continuously and also deals with risky situations.

If you do not have any passion towards your job, then you would give up in the first year itself. So have passion and make your dream come true.