Wait… OB/GYNs are surgeons?! Doctor Rich reacts to Dr. Glaucomflecken:

Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel! Today, we’re going to be doing a reaction video to Dr. Glaucomflecken’s “Introducing the OB/GYN.”

Hi, I’m Doctor Rich, and my passion is to create silly videos you can watch and laugh. That’s funny, but it’s kind of my passion… Let’s check out this video! 

Don’t have time to read this post? Watch the video here instead!

Administrator:

Thank you everybody for coming to the faculty meeting. Today, I have a very important announcement to make. 

Neurologist:

Are we all getting a Jonathan? 

Administrator:

No… 

Doctor Rich:

I want a Jonathan…

Cameraman [offscreen]:

I have a Jonathan AND a Rachel. 

Doctor Rich:

Oh, you do have a Jonathan!

Cameraman:

Yeah!

Doctor Rich:

Which means I have a Jonathan! (Jonathan’s our video editor) [to Jonathan, off camera] Hi, Jonathan! We should have, like, a little box of his face and have him wave back.

[returns to Dr. Glaucomflecken video]

Administrator:

We’ve finally hired an OB/GYN!

General Surgeon:

Why? We don’t need an OB/GYN. 

Administrator:

Oh, really? This hospital has been ranked scariest place to have a pelvic exam seven years in a row. 

Doctor Rich [laughing]:

So this is making fun of the ER. There are hospitals that don’t have an OB/GYN department — and all women’s care services basically just have to be triaged through the emergency department. A lot of times they’re dealing with things like gunshot wounds, sometimes actual trauma, and sometimes there are silly things that go to the emergency department. The point is though, ER doctors kind of have a reputation for not being the best at women’s health — and not having interest in doing that. And maybe being the scariest place to have a pelvic exam!

[returns to video]

Administrator:

Our current gynecologist is a textbook from 1968! [camera cuts to a book titled “Vaginas, Etc.”]

Doctor Rich::

So yeah — in those hospitals that don’t have those services, they might have a textbook (maybe up-to-date or somebody’s Googling Web MD to try to figure out what these conditions are) and have the OB/GYN on speed dial to try to figure out how to triage the patient. 

Administrator:

So everybody, give a warm welcome to the OB/GYN. 

OB/GYN:

Hi, everyone! Happy to be here. 

[all of Dr. Glaucomflecken’s personas look at each other in disbelief at the female doctor, who is the first character not played by Dr. Glaucomflecken]

Ortho:

Lady, bro. 

Doctor Rich [laughing]

Lady, bro! 

OB/GYN:

Are they okay? 

Administrator:

They’ve never seen one of you before…

OB/GYN:

A woman?

Administrator:

No, a gynecol… Actually, I don’t know. 

Doctor Rich:

I’ve never seen a woman on Glaucomflecken’s videos before either — so that’s a bit of a shock! So yes — there are women in healthcare, and we’re proud to be the one specialty that actually has more female providers than male. 

General Surgeon:

This is ridiculous. We need a surgeon!

OB/GYN:

Actually, I AM a surgeon. 

Doctor Rich:

Oh. Yeah, that’s a tough subject — that women can’t be surgeons or that OB/GYNs in general aren’t surgeons.

So let’s set the record straight — there are a number of different surgical specialties, and frankly, this attitude allows for women’s health specialties to be underrepresented and underfunded. And we have to understand that this is an area of specialty that deserves as many research dollars, deserves as much attention, deserves as much surgical specialty as ANY of the other surgical specialties. And that our providers are well-trained, intelligent, gifted, and many of them are women. 

General Surgeon [sarcastically]:

Come on…

OB/GYN [in disbelief]:

I’m sorry. What was that? 

General Surgeon:

Well, it’s just that…

OB/GYN:

What part of making an incision and operating inside the human body disqualifies me as a surgeon? 

General Surgeon:

No, it’s just that…

OB/GYN:

Maybe it was all the surgery I did in residency? Oh — or all the surgery I did in fellowship? 

General Surgeon:

Uh… I don’t think that you…

OB/GYN:

Oh, I get it. It must be the respect I have for all my colleagues. Yeah. That must be it. 

[the General Surgeon stands with his mouth open, searching for words]

Doctor Rich:

[about the General Surgeon] Nothing to say! So — and I, again, I think this is a topic that’s the elephant in the room that has to be addressed — women’s health (particularly women’s surgery) IS important and DOES deserve respect (just as all the OB/GYN providers respect all of their colleagues).

Scrub Tech:

Oh, I like her! 

OB/GYN:

Anyway, I’m excited to work with all of you. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Radiologist:

How much IV contrast can I give to a pregnant lady?

ER Doctor:

Can pregnant ladies have pain medicine? 

Neurologist:

Yeah. I also have questions about what we can give pregnant ladies.

Ortho: 

Are there any pregnancy-related bones I need to be aware of?

OB/GYN [to Administrator]:

I think I need to renegotiate my salary… 

Doctor Rich:

So you know… You feel that you don’t need the OB/GYN specialist until you NEED the OB/GYN specialist! This brings up a bigger point — that there is no one specialty that knows everything! It’s not a weakness to ask for a consult, ask for a second opinion, consult your society, your literature (or YouTube!) for a second opinion on something. And actually, it’s the fact that doctors (with few exceptions) have a lifetime commitment to better themselves, and educate themselves, and always try to be their higher self — to learn more and do more — that they’re able to provide the best possible care. And you know, we see this as a collaboration where everybody DOES need each other — and we’re all better together. 

Administrator [to OB/GYN]:

Yeah. You can have whatever you want.

Doctor Rich [laughing]:

This does bring up the topic of the disparity of reimbursement in male and female providers — particularly in their first contract out of residency. That’s a great topic idea — we’ll have to do “Knowing your worth negotiating your first-year salary.” I have female residents, and they’re some of the strongest, toughest, most dedicated, caring, empathetic individuals that I’ve ever worked with. Many of my mentors are female physicians, and it’s not a “nice to have” — it’s a MUST-have in healthcare.