July 2002 • Volume 8 • Number 7 |
To the editor:
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I'm responding to the letter "OB Training and the Titanic" in the April FP Report. If we think our specialty is sinking like the Titanic, then our response should be to give residents better and more intense training in obstetrics instead of dropping OB training. In my opinion, the reason more FPs don't do obstetrics is because most FPs are not trained to do Caesarean sections. Who wants to start what they cannot finish?
According to the AAFP, 22.4 percent of FPs deliver babies, and 4.7 percent perform C-sections. I believe it would be more if better training were provided. What better way to keep your practice young and growing than to deliver babies?
Without OB, family practice is nothing but Med-Peds. If we take obstetrics away, then we kill our specialty.
Jason Cox, M.D.
Valdosta, Ga.
To the editor:
Nationally, birth rates may have declined in recent decades, but pregnancy and childbirth remain fundamental parts of the lives of families. I'm the chair of the family practice department of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, and five years ago, our department acknowledged that FPs who care for families must continue to be trained in prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care. Therefore, the department made a commitment to actively recruit faculty who practice OB. Our family-centered model has been enthusiastically embraced by patients, with more than 500 deliveries in 2001. The maternal-child health component of our residency is exceptionally strong and has proven attractive to candidates in the "match."
We believe OB is an important aspect of the training we provide. We know it's a service welcomed by our communities. We are not a rural practice. We care for the urban underserved in our area.
It's disappointing that fewer students are choosing to practice family medicine. It's unfortunate so many FPs give up OB. It is a mistake, however, to view these facts as related.
Carolyn Lopez, M.D.
Chicago
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