OB-GYN Career Guide,
Salary, Licence & Jobs 2026

About 12 years after high school: four years of college, four of medical school and a four-year ACGME OB-GYN residency. Subspecialists add a three-year fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology or urogynecology, stretching training to 15 years before independent subspecialty practice at the top of the $437,300 90th-percentile range.

The BLS OEWS May 2025 median for obstetricians and gynecologists (SOC 29-1218) is $292,910 a year ($140.82/hr). The spread is wide: $94,680 at the 10th percentile — where residents and part-time academic roles sit — rising to $369,390 at the 75th and $437,300 at the 90th for high-volume surgeons, busy obstetric practices and fellowship-trained subspecialists.

You set your career intent, target role, location, salary, credentials, and timeline, in 3 minutes. Our recruiters benchmark your pay against BLS data and live employer requirements, then bring matching permanent job opportunities directly to you. No applications. No job boards. We verify your credentials so employers see a complete, credible profile. After placement, we pay your licence renewal fees. Permanent, full-time, direct-hire only.

Yes — it is one of the few specialties that combines primary care with major surgery. OB-GYNs perform cesarean sections, hysterectomies, laparoscopic and robotic procedures, and office procedures like LEEP and colposcopy, while also carrying a continuity panel of prenatal and well-woman patients. Residency applications treat it as a surgical match, and the ABOG certifying exam reviews your actual surgical case list.

An OB-GYN trains and certifies in both obstetrics (pregnancy and delivery) and gynecology (the non-pregnant reproductive system). A physician practicing only gynecology has usually completed the same four-year residency but dropped obstetrics — often mid-career to shed overnight call and obstetric malpractice premiums. Both sit under SOC 29-1218 and the same ABOG certification.

Consistently competitive: applicants outnumber the roughly 1,500 U.S. residency positions each year, and programs weigh clinical grades, board scores and obstetrics letters heavily. BLS projects only about 600 openings a year across the whole occupation through 2034, so the residency bottleneck — not the job market — is the gating step of the career.

Obstetrics carries some of medicine's largest liability exposure — a birth-injury claim can allege lifelong damages, and statutes of limitations for minors run for decades. Annual premiums reach six figures in some states, which is a key reason many OB-GYNs migrate to hospital employment, where the institution carries coverage, or drop obstetrics later in their careers while keeping gynecologic practice.