Going to the gyno whole on my period?

So i have had a couple scares with being pregnant and I want to end that so i have made the decision to go on birth control. Now i just started my period today and i was hoping on going the gyno tomorrow but i dont think i can now? The thing is i dont want to wait a whole nother month to start taking the pills. So here's my question...do you have to wait til the last day of your period to start on birth control pills? What about the patch, how does that work and when can you start that?