OBOBGYN
OB
Career

OBGYN

By the numbers
Typical pay
$292,910 / yr
Education to start
Doctoral or professional degree
Future demand
+1.2% by 2034
People in this job
21K
Figures shown for ·1 O*NET occupation
The work
A day, hour by hour

No two days are identical — deliveries and emergencies reshape everything. Here's a realistic composite:

06:30
Labor board review

Check overnight laboring patients — who's progressing, who's stalled, who's worrying nurses.

07:15
Delivery

Guide a mom through the final push; catch the baby, assess both patients fast.

08:30
Morning rounds

Visit postpartum and antepartum patients; spot early warning signs before they escalate.

09:30
Clinic patients

Back-to-back appointments — prenatal checks, Pap smears, PCOS consults, birth control counseling.

12:00
Hard conversation

Sit with a patient whose ultrasound found something wrong; deliver news carefully, plan next steps.

13:00
OR — C-section

Scrub in, open, deliver a baby safely, close — steady hands under real pressure.

14:30
Judgment call

Fetal heart tracing looks borderline — wait and watch, or call an emergency C-section now?

15:30
Charts & orders

Document every decision, write discharge instructions, sign off on lab results and medication orders.

17:00
Handoff & on-call

Brief the night team on every active patient; phone stays on — labor doesn't clock out.

Things you do
  • Deliver babies and guide mothers safely through labor and birth.
  • Perform surgeries like C-sections and hysterectomies in the OR.
  • Monitor pregnant patients and catch complications before they turn dangerous.
  • Diagnose conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, and ovarian cysts.
  • Do routine pelvic exams and Pap smears to catch problems early.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this labor progressing slowly enough to wait, or do I need to do a C-section now?
  • Is this fetal heart rate pattern truly dangerous, or can I keep watching?
  • Should I push for more intervention, or trust my patient's birth plan and hold back?
  • Is this patient's pain normal for her condition, or am I missing something serious?
  • Do I deliver early to protect the baby, or wait longer to protect the mother?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 100% related
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