Scott Webb (Host): One of the main reasons OB GYNs become OB Hospitalists is for better balance in their personal and professional lives. With a career as an OB Hospitalist, you have one singular focus while on shift, your patients. Joining us today is Dr. Neely Dean and Dr. Joanne Williamson, both are Board Certified OB GYNs and Market Medical Directors for OB Hospitalist Group. And they're here today to share how a career as an OB Hospitalist allows for OB GYN clinicians to have better balance in their personal and professional lives.

 This is the Obstetrics Podcast from OB Hospitalist Group. I'm Scott Webb.

Welcome all. I'd like to start by asking both of you, why'd you go into medicine, right? You knew the hours would be long. Did something change for you along the way that made you want to explore becoming an OB hospitalist? I'll start with you, Dr. Williamson.

Joanne Williamson, MD: Yes, the hours were long. And they're still long. For me, there was a change at my hospital where I had previously been working for a non-profit hospital and there was a takeover and the hospital changed to become a for profit hospital and I felt like the focus really shifted away from a people, both patients and, uh, nurses and staff members and really turn more towards profit.

And so I felt like ideologically, the shift was something that I couldn't really get on board with. I wanted to focus on taking the best care of patients and I felt like, maybe the focus on profit was getting in the way. And so unfortunately, it, it sort of changed,

 the feel of where I worked and that's why I looked into becoming an OB hospitalist.

I think what really got my family on board was that there would be more time for me to be at home. So, when you do shift work, you know, traditionally we do 24 hour shifts. Because half of our working time is in the middle of the night, it means we have, you know, some free time during the week, and for my family, the idea of having me home more was very appealing, and that's sort of why I made the shift. And what I love about OB Hospitalist group is the focus really is on providing excellent, safe care to women, and that really felt more like why I went into medicine in the first place.

Neely Dean, MD: Yeah, I would say that my perspective and priorities changed, after I became a mom. When my daughter was three, I left a practice that I had been in for seven years because I was looking for a better balance between work and having more family time. With the new job that I took, I, definitely had less calls and a bigger practice, but I still found myself working anywhere from 55 to 60 plus hours a week, you know, leaving early in the morning, getting home late, and just missing out on things that were important to me and important to my family.

And I think one of the things, you know, Dr. Williamson and I did our residency together and, you know, at the same time. And, and when we went through residency, there were no wellness programs. There was no talk about balance and you learn in residency to put your work and your patients first.

So my perspective changed, you know, becoming a mom and seeing that, you know, I was missing out on important things in my daughter's life and just important things, you know, for myself as well. And I knew I needed a change. So about two years before I became a hospitalist, I started thinking about it, looking into it, looking to see if there were any hospitalist programs near me, in looking for a way to have a better balance. So really family time was the biggest push for me.

Host: Yeah, I can certainly understand that, uh, after I became a dad, just my life and my perspective and trying to find that balance became more important to me. And just staying with you, Dr. Dean, do you feel like you have more time now for family and friends as an OB hospitalist instead of being in private practice?

Neely Dean, MD: I definitely do. I have more time for both. I find that I'm able to be more involved in my daughter's school, her after school activities. I'm able to do more things with my friends, meet for coffee, meet for lunch. I'm able to actually take my daughter to school and pick her up. And that's a huge plus because before, you know, I was always at work or, you know, before she went to school and most of the time it was home after she, you know, got home from school. So it's been a big shift.

Host: Yeah, I can understand that. I can remember being a kid and, you know, my mom would be gone to work already by the time I was getting up for school and then I would get home before she would. So, I can certainly understand it from the kid's perspective how important that is and certainly as a parent as well now. Dr. Williamson, what's most important to you about having that work life balance?

Joanne Williamson, MD: I think, you know, work is really important and the work we do is really important, but it's not all inclusive. And so I feel like if you only put your focus into your work life, that you're missing out on a lot and you're more likely to resent what you do. And when I go to work, like I really want to be excited about going and making a difference and performing at my best.

I think before I became a hospitalist, I did everything at about 60 to 70%. I wasn't great at home because I wasn't here very much and I wasn't as good as I could be at work because there was always a stretch on how can I get all of this work done and get home to see my family. So I feel like I was always in one place, but wanting to be in another. And now I have a lot of home time, I'd never picked up my kids from school before. I'd never gone to a Thanksgiving meal at their school or any of those things that are kind of milestones for children. But now when I go to work, you know, I'm there for 24 hours, I will work as hard as I possibly can. And I'm completely focused and, I feel like I can be focused in both places. And I think that is really meaningful because I want to do well at work and I want to do well at home.

Host: Yeah, I'm sure we've all had that feeling as parents, right? Like, we know our bodies are somewhere, but, you know, our minds are sort of split, you know, between, uh, work and home and that's just not a good thing for anybody, for us, for our kids. Wondering for both of you, and I'll start with you, uh, Dr. Dean, but do you believe that working as an OB Hospitalist will extend your careers?

Neely Dean, MD: I do. I think there's a couple of different ways that that can happen. I mean, we see physicians wanting to slow down as they get older, but might want to continue obstetrics. They might leave private practice and, and come to us part time. So they transition to being a hospitalist and work a lot less hours and kind of ease into retirement.

And then on the flip side, we see some become a hospitalist earlier in their careers so that they have a better balance and it extends their careers because they actually avoid or actually can recover from from burnout of private practice.

Host: Sure. Dr. Williamson?

Joanne Williamson, MD: I do. And, you know, I think this is really important because we are facing a physician shortage. So there are going to be, you know, more patients and less physicians available. So I think this is a great tool to keep people working and practicing where we're not losing the depth of experience, because people are burned out and they just want to retire. So I think this provides a great opportunity for people to keep contributing, and feeling like they're working towards something meaningful, but it's not overwhelming.

Host: Yeah. I know you both serve in leadership roles. I'm wondering, I'll start with you, Dr. Williamson, do you think, having more time in your personal and professional lives, you know, has played a factor into you moving into this position?

Joanne Williamson, MD: Yes. Because I think before I started in an OB hospitalist role, I was so stretched that I was having to say no to a lot of things. Like I couldn't take on any more work. Whereas when I was asked to be a leader and play a leadership role in OB Hospitalist Group, I do have time in my day. Um, and I was happy to add, some extra responsibilities that I could do during the day while my children were at school. It's not night work, so that makes it easier. So I definitely felt like I had a lot more time in my schedule that I could devote to leadership.

Host: Yeah. How about you, Dr. Dean?

Neely Dean, MD: Of course, I always was interested in leadership when practicing and actually had several different leadership roles prior to having my daughter. But once she was born, I felt I was already so busy, I didn't have the time or actually didn't want to sacrifice more time, for work and being a hospitalist freed up so much time, um, just as Dr. Williamson said, while my daughter's at school, when I'm off. And I finally felt I can take on the leadership responsibility and it wouldn't actually affect my availability to my family and to my daughter. So

Host: That's great. Staying with you, Dr. Dean, were there more administrative duties in private practice versus how things are for you now?

Neely Dean, MD: Well, as a Market Medical Director, I do believe I have more administrative duties than in private practice. Both of my previous practices were actual hospital employed, so there were not a whole lot of administrative duties compared to maybe physicians that run their own practice. But prior to my leadership role with OBHG, my administrative duties were pretty minimal.

Host: I just want to finish up with bit of a fun one, hopefully here. What's the most surprising benefit to being an OB hospitalist? And I'll start with you, Dr. Williamson.

Joanne Williamson, MD: You know, I think that I didn't have a good understanding of what a hospitalist meant before I started the job. I mean, one of those things, right? You don't know what, you don't know what it is until you sort of get your feet wet.

I would say that I have become really good at hospitalist medicine, and I would have thought before that, you know, I would manage patients in the hospital very well, but it's amazing when you're managing those patients in the hospital day after day, you actually get, you know, a lot better at managing them.

And I've really enjoyed that. I feel like I'm really at the top of my game. I'm not stagnating. There's still a lot to learn and I'm getting better. And I thought I was pretty good before. So, you know, I really like that.

I really enjoy the relationship that we have with the private physicians. I feel like such an integral part of the team at the hospital. That is really rewarding. And, you know, I really love being able to, you know, be more available to my family. I think those are the three best things about the job.

Host: Yeah, well, you sold me for sure, but how about you, Dr. Dean?

Neely Dean, MD: Yeah, I would say feeling like I still make a difference and have a positive impact on patients lives. I mean, the thing I struggled with the most about making the decision to becoming a hospitalist was losing the connection with my own patients, the relationships that I built with them, and the positive impact I, you know, had on them.

And it's what I really had loved most about medicine was being there for my patients and those relationships. And honestly, it was developing those relationships what pulled me towards being an OBGYN versus being a surgeon. Because you're more involved in continuity of care with those patients and I was afraid I wouldn't have that anymore.

So the biggest surprise I would say is that I have found that in being an OB hospitalist, you know, I've realized I can still have that meaningful connection and a positive impact on patients lives. It just looks a little bit different.

Host: Right, a little bit different, maybe for some better or worse, whatever, but for you, obviously it works. And for Dr. Williamson, it's been so great to just meet you both today to learn more about what you do and why you do it, and this work life balance that you've both been able to find working at OBHG and working as OB hospitalists. So thank you so much. You both stay well.

Joanne Williamson, MD: Thank you.

Neely Dean, MD: Thank you. Have a great day.

Host: That was Dr. Joanne Williamson and Dr. Neely Dean. And for more information about OB Hospitalist Programs, go to obhg.com. And if you found this podcast to be helpful, please share it on your social channels and make sure to check out the entire podcast library for additional topics of interest. I'm Scott Webb, and thanks for checking out this episode of the Obstetrics Podcast from OB Hospitalist Group. Take care.