Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
One of the most frequent questions asked by obstetrics and gynecology residents, especially those who are beginning their residency, or even later in life, is, “How do I study when I don’t have time to study?”
Once you start your obstetrics and gynecology residency, your daily schedule is full of hospital work, taking care of patients, paperwork, and innumerable case documents. By evening, fatigue catches up, leaving minimal time for focused study sessions. Unlike your days as an undergraduate or an intern, with a dedicated study space, obstetrics and gynecology residency is a completely different game.
Converting Day-to-Day Experiences into Learning Experiences
The secret to successful studying throughout your OBG residency is incorporating learning into your daily hospital activities. Every second in the hospital is a chance to learn.
Here’s how:
1. Learning in the Wards
Whether you are posted in the antenatal, postnatal, or general gynae ward, each case you attend is a learning experience. Writing a case sheet? That’s learning. Seeing a patient with preeclampsia? Learning from their treatment chart is more than reading about it. Work with patient files proactively, challenge the rationale behind management plans, and discuss cases with seniors.
2. Maximizing Labor Room Postings
Your obstetrics gynecology residency will see you get long exposure to labor rooms. At least six months of labor room posting is mandated by the National Medical Commission (NMC) during your OBS-GYN residency, here’s where you get that rich hands-on training.
If your hospital arranges these postings uninterruptedly or in phases (two months at a time as a first-year, second-year, and senior resident), ensure you maximize this time. The labor ward is where you will hone your skills in performing deliveries, handling obstetric emergencies, and taking rapid clinical decisions.
3. Maximizing OPD Postings
You may not be given outpatient departments (OPDs) independently at first, but sharing it with senior residents and consultants is a great learning experience in learning patient interaction, history-taking, and examination skills.
Skills to learn in OPD postings are:
- Good patient communication
- Conducting speculum and vaginal examinations
- Taking Pap smears
- Grasping treatment and diagnostic guidelines
4. Observing and Learning in the OT
Your exposure in the obstetrics and gynecology residency program also takes place in the operation theatre (OT), where you learn surgery, instrument handling, and learn about sterilization procedures. Though you may not comprehend the steps of surgery properly at first, pay attention to:
- Recognizing instruments utilized during various procedures
- Learning incision procedures and suture techniques
- Grasping intraoperative management of patients
5. Learning Beyond Docs – Teamwork is Key
Knowledge in your obg residency goes beyond what teaching faculty impart. Nurses, ward staff, and even general duty assistants (GDAs) are potential sources of practical knowledge beyond textbooks. Have an open mind, ask, and learn from all those people around you.
Maximizing Limited Study Time
As study time is limited, here are some tips of practical use:
- Utilize small breaks productively: Catch up on the cases you encountered during brief breaks or after your shift.
- Technology-based learning: Subscribe to respected medical websites and utilize mobile applications for brief revision of topics.
- Peer discussion: Discussing and sharing cases among peers reinforces learning.
- High-yield topics of importance: Revisit important clinical conditions and protocols for emergency handling.
As opposed to undergraduate learning, residency in obstetrics and gynecology is more a matter of learning by doing. Although you do not necessarily have uninterrupted study time, every encounter with the patient, each procedure, and each clinical judgment counts as an opportunity to learn. Remain attentive, be assertive, and make every minute count in OBS-GYN residency board preparations.
