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Studies & Degrees in Gynecology

Gynecology is the medical specialty that deals with the health of the female reproductive system. In practice it is studied and practised together with obstetrics, the care of pregnancy and childbirth, and most countries train doctors in both under one specialty: obstetrics and gynecology. A gynecologist is a doctor who has finished a medical degree and then several years of specialist training in a hospital.

Gynecology is not a first degree. Students who want to work in the field begin with medicine and choose the specialty afterwards. Midwifery is a separate profession with its own training.

What students learn

Spain's official training programme for the specialty describes four areas of content:

  • Pregnancy, childbirth and the weeks after birth, with their disorders and treatment
  • Diseases of the female genital tract, including the breast, and their treatment
  • Human reproduction and its disorders
  • The preventive, psychological and social aspects linked to these areas

The specialty combines medicine and surgery. Trainees learn to follow pregnancies and attend deliveries, to diagnose and treat conditions such as cervical cancer, ovarian cysts and symptoms related to menopause, and to operate. Medical students first meet the subject during the clinical years of the medical degree, usually through a hospital rotation.

Qualifications and levels

The route differs by country.

  • Spain: the bachelor's degree in Medicine (Grado en Medicina) has 360 ECTS credits. The specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Obstetricia y Ginecología) then takes four years of residency, according to its official training programme
  • European Union: basic medical training must comprise at least five years of study and 5,500 hours of theoretical and practical teaching
  • United States: students complete a bachelor's degree and four years of medical school. The residency in obstetrics and gynecology lasts four years, and a subspecialty such as gynecologic oncology adds a minimum of two to three years, according to the American College of Surgeons
  • United Kingdom: after medical school, doctors complete a two-year foundation programme. Specialty training in obstetrics and gynaecology then takes a minimum of seven years, according to NHS Health Careers. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists explains that advanced modules or subspecialty training make up the final two years

Short courses and master's programmes in areas such as reproductive health exist as well, but they do not replace specialist training and do not license anyone to practise as a gynecologist.

Where to study it

The directory lists five active schools for gynecology: two in the United States and one each in Ghana, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

Yale University, in New Haven, offers a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology based at Yale New Haven Hospital, with 33 residents at present. Its department has eight clinical sections, among them maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and family planning. These sections give an idea of the subspecialties open to a trained gynecologist. Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, is the second school listed in the United States.

Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, works with the university hospital UMC Utrecht in research, healthcare and education. The University of Ghana, in Legon, has a College of Health Sciences. Bukovinian State Medical University, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, has four faculties and a simulation centre whose equipment includes obstetrical and gynecological simulators.

Medical degrees and residencies are normally taught in the language of the country, because trainees work with patients from the first clinical year. Before enrolling abroad, students should ask the health authority of the country where they plan to practise how it recognises a foreign medical degree and a foreign specialist title.

Careers

Most specialists work in hospitals, clinics or their own practices as obstetricians and gynecologists. Others move into a subspecialty, research or teaching.

In the United States, physicians and surgeons held about 862,800 jobs in 2025, of which 22,800 were obstetricians and gynecologists, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It projects that employment of physicians and surgeons as a whole will grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035. All US states require a licence to practise. These figures refer to the United States only.

Frequently asked questions

Can I study gynecology without studying medicine first?

No. Gynecology is a medical specialty. The first step is a degree in medicine, followed by specialist training in obstetrics and gynecology.

How long does it take to become a gynecologist?

In Spain, the medical degree of 360 ECTS credits plus four years of residency. In the United States, four years of medical school after a bachelor's degree, plus a four-year residency.

Are gynecology and obstetrics the same specialty?

They are two fields that are trained together. Gynecology covers the female reproductive system, and obstetrics covers pregnancy and childbirth. Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom all train doctors in both within one specialty.

Can I specialise further after training as a gynecologist?

Yes. Examples are gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. In the United States, gynecologic oncology requires a minimum of two to three more years after residency.