ACOG reviews

When I got my initial job offer, I was over the moon. I am deeply committed to the protection and expansion of reproductive rights and was thrilled to be able to work for an organization that I (mistakenly) believed was a true champion for women and the reproductive rights movement in this country. Every second of working at ACOG was a true living hell. From a basic operations/management perspective, this place was an absolute disaster. I have never worked for an organization that is so poorly run and unabashedly toxic. Managers were cold, unfeeling, and could not effectively communicate their needs or expectations. I was micromanaged to the nth degree, and yet no matter how hard I tried, my work was never deemed good enough. In every job I've held prior to and after ACOG, I have been considered a strong performer and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from supervisors. Still, I thought the problem at ACOG was me, not the organization. I thought I wasn't working hard enough, that I was incapable of doing solid work, or that I was simply an idiot. After speaking with other former employees, I realized that my experience at ACOG was the norm, not the exception. People don't last long here because this place will simply break you -- the turnover at ACOG is insane. My mental health tanked while working at ACOG and my self confidence was absolutely shattered. I -- perhaps selfishly -- hesitated to ever write a review of this place because I didn't want to think about ACOG ever again. But in light of the recent "incident" at the 2023 annual clinical & scientific meeting in Baltimore, I felt called to write something. The most disturbing thing about this organization is not the way it treats employees, but the way it functions at its core. This is a completely ineffective advocacy organization that wastes money on campaign contributions to "friendly" republicans (read: donates to republicans who inevitably vote anti-choice). It is an advocacy group that seems to be, for the most part, stuck in the 1980s. They knew it was only a matter of time before Roe was overturned, and they wasted money on donating to republican federal candidates while overlooking the fact that anti-choice groups were sweeping through statehouses across the country and laying the ground work for the litany of horrifying anti-abortion bills being enacted across out country. This is an advocacy organization that rarely, if ever, accomplishes any meaningful legislative wins. As the event in Baltimore and ACOG's tepid response shows, this is an organization that will continue to promote, platform, and stand behind (predominately white) male doctors who do "questionable" things and have "questionable" political views. I understand the big tent philosophy -- I don't expect every ob-gyn to be as pro-choice as I would like them to be. But placing "old-guard" white male doctors who do not fully believe in a woman's right to choose (ex. Marty Tucker) at the helm of this organization is simply incomprehensible. ACOG may have a nice mission statement and may do some smart branding work to make the org look "progressive," but that couldn't be farther from the truth.

This is one of the most siloed companies I've ever worked for. ACOG spends a lot of time duplicating efforts, and the lack of communication means they don't realize the duplicate products until after launch. The previous reviews don't like: the backstabbing here is incessant and unrepentant. You need eyes in the back of your head as someone is always trying to catch you in a mistake. CYA is a way of life here. ACOG is way behind the times with both content and technology in comparison to its competition. The IT infrastructure is Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that results in elaborate workarounds to complete seemingly simple operations. There was an attempt to create a new strategic plan for 2020 that addresses these issues, but a combination of mind-numbing 2 hour progress meetings and the aforementioned silos and staff backstabbing destroyed most of this effort. Biggest con: stress-induced insomnia until I was able to get out of this place.