A day in the life of an OBGYN

OB/GYN, shorthand for obstetrician/gynecologist, refers to two medical specialties. Although obstetrics, the branch of medicine focused on delivering babies, might be the oldest medical art, most obstetricians also practice gynecology since exclusively delivering babies would not typically provide much business. The profession requires diverse daily duties and it offers OB/GYNs opportunities to provide various types of surgical procedures and practice preventive medicine.

The Institute for Women’s Health is the largest and best OB/GYN practice in San Antonio, Texas. They are committed to offering exceptional women’s healthcare, from obstetrics and gynecology to fertility and more. They have more than 30 physicians who specialize in all areas of OB/GYN care, including menopause management and fertility treatment. They currently have eight clinics conveniently located throughout San Antonio. It is their mission to take a team approach to providing women of all ages with compassionate care in an inviting, comfortable and patient-centric environment.

The lifestyle and job description of an OB/GYN practitioner consists of:

Keeping Women Healthy

One of the first priorities for an OB/GYN practitioner is their patients. Overall, an OB/GYN provides medical and surgical care to women. Obstetrics involves taking care of women before and during pregnancy and at childbirth, as well as their fetuses and newborn babies, and performing procedures such as cesarean sections. Duties related to gynecology include diagnosing and treating disorders of the female reproductive system. They can diagnose conditions such as infection, endometriosis, and ovarian and breast cancers. OB/GYNs sometimes provide primary care. They also continually take courses to update their skills. Due to the nature of their practice, OB/GYNs are frequently on call, and their hours can be quite long, as they may have to help women through labors lasting longer than 24 hours. On average, OB/GYNs work 58 hours a week, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Everything that OB/GYNs do on a daily basis is all meant to improve their patient’s well-being. Caring about their patient’s health is one thing, but to gain their trust and create effective communication is important as well. OB/GYNs have the ability to make the “being pregnant” experience for their patients easier to cope with since it is probably the most challenging phase a woman can face in her lifetime. Without the help of OB/GYNs, one can only imagine how difficult it would be for women to maintain their health.

Multitude of Duties

OB/GYNs place a priority on encouraging patients to maintain healthy lifestyles. The Institute for Women’s Health does a good job having their OB/GYNs provide care and comfort to all their patients. In general, OB/GYNs provide information about exercise, nutrition and planning pregnancies. They also warn of the dangers of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol excessively. After examining patients, they order the appropriate tests to nail down a diagnosis. Then they explain the test results, provide treatment options and monitor the patient's progress. Of course, OB/GYNs only recommend their patients to maintain their health because they want what is best for them. OB/GYNs, with further education, can subspecialize in fields such as critical care medicine, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, gynecologic oncology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. When required, they refer patients to other specialists and consult with other health care providers when necessary.

Other Positions

If they are in private practice, OB/GYNs require business and administrative skills, such as bookkeeping, marketing and personnel matters, as do those who work in administrative capacities in hospitals or who run community health programs. OB/GYNs running hospital or community health programs may also need to be familiar with the public policy and governmental regulations concerning their hospital or community programs. Some OB/GYNs go on to teach in medical schools. In medical schools and for private corporations, they can also perform research on diseases and their treatments and write articles for medical and scientific journals.

Becoming Qualified

Aspiring OB-GYNs graduate from medical school and complete 4 years of a hospital residency program. These programs provides training in areas such as preconceptional health, pregnancy, postpartum care, genetic counseling, women's overall health, management of hormonal disorders, and surgery to treat pelvic organ and urinary tract problems. All doctors must be licensed in the state in which they work. State licensing requirements vary.

A Good Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that, for physicians and surgeons overall, employment will grow 24 percent between 2010 and 2020, faster than the average for all occupations, with growth best for specialties that treat conditions affecting aging baby boomers. The I Have a Plan Iowa website notes that OB-GYNs will be in demand as female baby boomers increasingly reach menopause. According to the BLS, in 2012, obstetricians and gynecologists made mean annual salaries of $216,760.

5 Compelling Facts You Need To Know About the Zika Virus

The Zika virus has drawn quite the attention from other countries and now in the United States. Not many are aware of the Zika virus or what kind of damage it can cause to one’s body. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been cases of this emerging infectious disease soaring in the Americas. How much of a threat can this Zika virus be towards women’s health?

Zika-related birth defects are known to be as an international public health emergency by the WHO. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) posted a travel alert advising pregnant women to delay traveling to areas where Zika is most active. The travel alert list continues to expand each day and now includes 45 countries or territories in the Americas, the Pacific Islands, Africa, and possibly more.

The CDC guidelines recommends that pregnant women coming back from these Zika hot zone areas to get tested for Zika. As of May 26, there has been 168 U.S. cases of Zika in pregnant women and an additional 142 in U.S territories.

This disease could not have arrived at a worse time than now with the 2016 summer Olympic Games coming up in Rio de Janeiro. Health experts fear the Zika virus could spread far beyond Latin America. The World Health Organization is already expecting Zika to spread in all but two countries in the Americas: Canada and Chile. This kind of situation leaves the athletes who are competing to consider skipping the games for their own good. The U.S. Olympic Committee believes that preventing the spread of Zika is critical, especially for women in their childbearing years.

Here are the facts about the Zika virus:

1. Although usually spread by mosquito’s bites, the Zika virus is also transmitted through sex. As a matter of fact, there have been cases of sexual transmission confirmed in Texas and others wonder where else it could be spreading. Zika is an RNA virus related to the West Nile, yellow fever, and dengue viruses, and eventually passed on by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. For example, if a person were to be bitten by a mosquito that has the virus then that person becomes viremic. More than likely the person’s initial bite will attract other mosquitoes, which then passes the virus along.

As mentioned earlier, the Zika virus can also be sexually transmitted, which leaves intimate partners at risk. The CDC advises if you’re pregnant and your partner had or has Zika, you should speak with your doctor and consider using condoms or abstaining from sex throughout pregnancy. As a safety measure to protect others from receiving Zika, the FDA recommends not donating blood, tissue, or organs. This only applies if within the last six months you have been diagnosed with the Zika virus, been in an area with active Zika virus or had sex with a man who’s had the virus.

2. Unborn babies are most at risk from Zika virus complications due to their mothers being exposed to the virus. The Zika virus affects pregnant women by producing illnesses and horrific effects of microcephaly. Fortunately, doctors have not found that the Zika virus can cause breast cancer, or menopause issues. However, not even some of the best women's health doctors cannot predict when in pregnancy the consequences are greatest. There have been cases where up to nine pregnant U.S. travelers have consumed the Zika virus. The CDC has established a registry to track pregnant U.S. women who have a lab-confirmed Zika virus infection.

As of now, there’s no vaccine to protect against the Zika virus, those who have the virus can only rely on the rubella vaccination in order to avoid birth defects. This certain vaccine is recommended for adults and it helps prevent miscarriages in pregnant women, heart problems, and hearing loss in newborns.

3. The Zika virus began in Africa and is only spreading rapidly as people continue to travel to Zika active areas and take the virus back to their homes. The virus was originally named ZIKV, and first discovered in 1947 in a rhesus macaque in the Zika forest in Uganda.

There were outbreaks reported from 1951 to 1981 throughout Africa and Asia. In 2007, 73 percent of the Polynesian population was infected by the Zika virus. In December 2015, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (PAN/WHO) recommended Latin American countries to demand healthcare systems to provide medications.

4. Travelers probably won’t bring infected mosquitoes along with them due to the fact that mosquitoes are not capable of traveling long distances. Mosquitoes have been known to be fragile insects and only a fraction of the total mosquito population are in Zika-endemic areas. The bigger concern people should have is that someone else who is infected is more capable of passing the virus along by having sex.

In addition, if the person infected with the virus is exposed to mosquito populations, those mosquitoes will carry the virus themselves and spread it to other people. It’s a continuous cycle that doesn’t end well for many people, especially women who are pregnant.

5. Mosquito control can help prevent the Zika virus from spreading towards others. One of the best things to do is control the insect vector by cutting down on mosquito breeding and other mosquito-borne viruses. One thing to take notice is that breeding sites include water-filled habitats like plant containers. toilets inside the home, puddles, and pooled water outdoors. However, chemical pesticides have the ability to kill mosquitoes, but use them carefully in order to prevent contamination that could be harmful to your health.

If you are pregnant and are concerned that you may have been exposed to the Zika virus, please visit the Institute For Women’s Health for evaluation.