By Charlotte Smith, Gopika SenthilKumar, Paulina Gutkin Fostering a community intended to elevate women medical students is vital not only for increasing representation within surgery, but also build...
Blog
The Identities We Choose
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...
Blog
THE MATCH EQUATION: AN IMG’S PERSPECTIVE
by: Anjani H Turaga, IMG The day starts at 5 am on an unusually cold morning in Los Angeles, where we see our protagonist, an IMG (International medical graduate) brushing her teeth furiously, trying...
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Finding Myself: A Korean-American Adoptee’s Reflections on Identity, Loss, and Purpose
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...
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A Weightlifters Guide to Fitness during Medical Education
By Sophie Hockran Two years into medical school, and I have learned a lot, as expected. Many who have come before me know the feeling of learning so much information that your brain may explode. Bein...
Blog
To Do’s Before Starting Residency
By Alyssa Brown Congratulations are in order for the many new women surgeons that will be joining our ranks as interns next year! Last year, I felt like time flew by between opening that envelope and...
Blog
Diversify Ourselves
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...
Blog
Reflections and Advice from a Former Preliminary Surgery Resident
by Justine Broecker, MD Now that it’s post-match day, a day of celebration for many, I wanted to write a blog post focused on people who may or may not have felt as celebratory—specifically those...
Blog
Creating an Inclusive Surgical Community: Association of Out Surgeons & Allies
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...
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5 reasons I pursued an executive MBA and how it has helped me so far.
Heather Yeo, MD, MHS, MBA, MS Having recently (2019) completed an executive masters in business administration (MBA) program, I often get asked about why I pursued one in the first place, if I would ...