Category: diversity and inclusion

By Dr. Elinore Kaufman “Don’t worry, I still wear make-up every day.”  A surgical resident was assigned to talk to our group of medical students about being a woman in surgery—the first of m...

By: Heather Wachtel, MD Growing up in Vermont, I had one person who looked like me – my sister. The children of a first generation Cantonese immigrant and a second generation Russian Jew, we loved...

By: Elizabeth Lilley, MD, MPH Many people are surprised to learn that I am both a surgeon and a palliative care doctor. Although the number of surgeons pursuing fellowship training in palliative care...

By Dr. Chantal Reyna How well would you handle not being able to perform surgery anymore? The real question is “How much of your identity is based on being a surgeon?” We tend to define ourselves...

When I was asked to write a piece describing who the Association of Out Surgeons & Allies (AOSA https://www.outsurgeons.org/) is for the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) blog, I paused. I hesi...

By Gabriela Brandão, MD Have you imagined yourself under the surgeon's knife? It might be a terrifying circumstance even for us, right? Now, can you imagine yourself under the surgeon's knife but in...

By Priya Dedhia, MD, PhD Emily was one of my first friends when I started as an attending surgeon. It was like we were destined to be friends—during the shutdown in March 2020, Emily texted me when...

By Annabelle Fonseca  I was invited to write a perspective piece on being an Asian woman in surgery in honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage month. Given the diversity of the Asian Ameri...

By Lily Cheng Last March, eight people – including six Asian women – were killed in a targeted hate crime in Atlanta, Georgia. In the year since, NBC News reports that 74% of Asian American Pacif...

By Sara Ashai There are days where everything goes wrong, but there are also days where everything goes right. Most days, we sit somewhere in the middle. Our voice stays quiet some days, some days it...