[Career trajectories of obstetrician-gynecologists]

To analyze the career paths of gynecologists-obstetricians to identify the factors that lead them to stop practicing obstetrics or on-call duties.

A questionnaire was sent to 162 gynecologists-obstetricians who began their residency in the Hauts-de-France region between 2003 and 2014. The questions covered their personal life and professional background.

The respondents were predominantly women (83%) with a median age of 37 years. The respondents mostly worked in the public sector (64%), full-time (77%), and practiced obstetrics (80%). Participation in obstetric activities significantly decreases over time (P<0.001): 95% practiced it in their first position, 43% did so in their fourth position. Eighty percent still participated in on-call duties, but 40% were considering stopping (almost half of them within the next 5 years). Significant factors associated with stopping obstetrics included older age, being male, and practicing surgery. The cessation of on-call duties was significantly associated with age, number of children, involvement in assisted reproductive technology, medical gynecology, or private practice.

The obstetricians and gynecologists in this study still predominantly practice obstetrics and participate in on-call duties after a median of 7 years in practice. However, both activities decrease over time, which is a challenge for medical demographics and represents a major risk to the sustainability of obstetrics services.