obstetrician

*OR* you could become a Nurse-Midwife (who does well-woman gynecological care and lady partsl deliveries-- cesarian sections are handled by obstetricians) or a Women's Health Nurse-Practitioner (who does everything a Nurse-Midwife does, except deliveries).

To become a Nurse-Midwife or Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, you need to get a master's degree and to do that you first need to become a nurse (RN). What it takes to become an RN, depends on if you already have a degree or not. For example, in my case, when I decided I wanted to become a Nurse-Midwife, I already had a bachelor's degree-- just not in nursing. So I looked for accelerated RN-to-MSN programs. These programs were 3 year programs, where the first year was an accelerated RN program (some of the programs actually award a second bachelor's degree after the first year), and the next 1.5-2 years were spent learning the master's specialty (ie: nurse-midwifery, women's health).

If you are not an RN and don't have a bachelor's degree, there are a lot of options-- but all involve getting a bachelor's degree before the master's degree. I'm not sure I'm the best person to explain all this, as I am new to nursing myself, but I'll take a stab at it (and maybe the more experienced nurses on the board can add their corrections/ comments?).

To become a nurse, you can either begin with becoming an LPN/LVN, an ADN, or BSN.

Licensed Practical Nurse/ Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN)

Education: 1 year full-time (depends on the program)

Duties: Does everything that an RN does-- EXCEPT (technically) anything that involves assessment of the patient or patient education. I say technically because I don't think that's what actually happens in practice-- I would guess LPNs end up doing some assessment and teaching. LPNs, to my understanding, work under the direction of RNs and are generally assigned to the most stable, least-complicated patients.

Pros: Less time spent in school before working. Can become an LPN and get a job and then go to school part time to get your RN (ADN-see below) while you're working (most hospitals have some sort of tuition reimbursement program).

Cons: You work under an RN (this may or may not be a con, depending on how much autonomy you want). The pay-- LPNs are paid considerably less than RNs (up to half as much) for almost the same job. More limited in what unit in the hospital you can work in-- this seems to vary by hospital and state. I know that on the Labor and Delivery floor I worked on, they only had RNs, no LPNs-- I don't know off the top of my head whether or not LPNs can work in the well-baby nursery or not (though my instinct is that they can)-- BUT if you are thinking about becoming an LPN then you should really look into what the case is for LPNs in the state and city/cities you think you want to work.

Associate's Degree in Nursing (ADN- RN)

Education: 2-3 yrs full-time. Makes you eligible to take the NCLEX-RN and become a Registered Nurse (RN).

Pros: Less time/money to become an ADN than to become a BSN. Can work as an RN and enroll in a RN-to-BSN program (and, again, many hospitals have a tuition reimbursement program meaning that they'll pay for part/all of your RN-to-BSN classes).

Cons: Still may make less than a BSN, may be limited as far as chances for advancement.

Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN- RN)

Education: 4 year degree. Makes you eligible to take the NCLEX-RN and become a Registered Nurse (RN).

Pros: Receive a bachelor's degree. Greater chances for advancement, should you eventually decide you want to become an administrator or want to go to become an advanced practice nurse/ nurse-practitioner (which requires a master's degree). Highest paid.

Cons: Most time and money.

Once you have a bachelor's degree in nursing, you can apply for master's programs-- and, again, there are a lot of part-time programs where you can work full-time as an RN and go to school part-time and the hospital will help pay your tuition (how much depends on the hospital) for you to get your master's degree.

That all said, to become an OB/GYN, you have to go to medical school-- which first requires that you get a bachelor's degree and take all of the pre-med courses (inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, physics, calculus, etc.). In total, your bachelor's degree plus medical school is 8 years, then (and this is where I get fuzzy), you have to do a residency and a fellowship in your specialty (OB/GYN) to become a full-fledged doctor.

This is a Nursing BB not a Medical BB. Thus, most of us cannot give you the most accurate info.

Try the Student Doctor Network, as they would probably have better answers to your question.