education
Food for Thought: Progressive Advice for Mentees
By Gabrielle Rieth I recently encountered an instance in which a mentor suggested that I and other female medical students rely on antiquated gender stereotypes to succeed in our upcoming clinical clerkship rotations. This advice was dispensed without any accompanying professional recommendations, such as pre-rounding on patients, recalling the patient’s medications and allergies, understanding the patient’s medical history, or practicing patient presentations prior to reporting to her residents or attending physicians. There is nothing amiss with possessing or utilizing “feminine” characteristics to enhance or improve one’s work environment. I personally felt the recommendation was inappropriate for the setting in which it was dispensed. It seemed, to me, to neglect other vital assets we as future physicians and surgeons will contribute to our clinical teams. I am soft-spoken and often characterized as “nice,” “sweet,” or “adorable.” I express my gender identity in a way that is traditionally ascribed to females. This...
Food for Thought: Surgery and Public Health
By Nickey Jafari This week, I want to discuss where surgery and public health intersect. First, a little personal background: I took a global public health class with Dr. Debra DeLaet at Drake University for my International Relations major and absolutely fell in love with public health. I highly recommend her textbook, if you are interested in the subject. Since medical school, I have been a passionate supporter of Partners in Health, a community coordinator for their fundraising branch Partners in Health Engage, and a complete and total Dr. Paul Farmer fangirl. I also hope to pursue an MPH between my 3rd and 4th year of medical school. The World Health Organization defines “public health” as “all organized measures to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.” Sounds pretty important, right? A broad range of issues fall under this umbrella, from access to family...
Food for Thought: When the Doctor Becomes the Patient
By Nickey Jafari During my first year of medical school, my class had the honor of having Dr. Jeffrey Piehler, a retired thoracic surgeon, come speak to us. You may know him as the author of the New York Times essay, "Ashes to Ashes but First a Nice Pine Box". You may also know him as the incredibly talented and dedicated surgeon that he was, being elected into all the major societies for cardiothoracic surgeons. Jeff Piehler, seen sitting in the pine coffin that he build has passed away. Credit Shari Hartbauer/Lincoln Journal Star. In 2002, Dr. Piehler was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This ultimately forced him to retire as he lost sensation in his fingertips from the aggressive treatments he underwent. In “Ashes to Ashes, but First a Nice Pine Box”, Dr. Piehler writes about how, after over a decade-long battle that he knew he...
Inhale, Exhale, Say Yes
By Shree Agrawal Saying yes is complicated, powerful, and full of potential. Celebrities like Shonda Rhimes, known for her Thursday night television series and recent book, Year of Yes, and Ryan Seacrest, whose persona hosts many media outlets, have participated in the social experiment of saying yes to every opportunity they each are offered. They have earned success by saying yes and having the courage and ability to figure out how to fulfill each of their commitments. Medicine is no different from Hollywood. In each, only a small percentage of people achieve success. In 2013, the AAMC reported 48,000 people applied to medical school, and approximately 20,000 matriculated into their first year. In addition to international medical schools, the NRMP reported 41,334 registered applicants in 2015 for 30,212 available positions. This does not include the 80,000 people who take the MCAT each year and 13.2 million students who attend four-year...
Food For Thought: Fearing “Leaning In”
By Shree Agrawal We will now start featuring a new blog post each Sunday as well as Wednesday! Our Sunday post will be a reflection or question from AWS members. Follow our blog (enter your email below the “Subscribe to AWS Blog” on the right-hand side of the screen) and join the conversation in the comments section or on Twitter! Sheryl Sandberg’s “leaning in” has been featured, referenced, or adapted for most women in medicine/surgery events I have attended in the past year, and for good reason. Five years later, her TED talk and Lean In book continuously remind me of the complex issues we face, as women, in all environments—professional and personal. In leading my own medical school chapter of the Association of Women Surgeons*, my personal and professional interactions with my female peers have highlighted the fears many female medical students have about “leaning in” to a...
Spin Doctors
By Kelley Bullard The two most powerful words in any language are YES and NO. When my daughter was two and a half, she earnestly asked one day from her car seat: “Can I drive when I’m older? Can I drive… when I am four?” Our eyes met in the rear view mirror. She was completely earnest and I struggled to contain my smile. “Why of course you can drive when you are older sweetheart,” I replied. “When I am four?” she asked again. “We will negotiate when you are four, and you will definitely drive when you are older than two and a half!” Luckily her teachers at preschool had used the word ‘negotiate’ and she knew it meant that she would get some part of what she wanted. When I looked in the mirror again, I saw her contented smile focused on the tattered ‘black kitty’ who accompanied...
A Family Affair
By Linda Farkas This Thanksgiving has given me much to reflect on; myself changing jobs, my husband and I moving across country, one daughter completing her first year out of college and living in New York City, another daughter graduating from college and considering her next step, and a third daughter deciding on where to attend college so she can change the world. I find these transitions within my family to be gratifying and exciting! This is also the first Thanksgiving after many years in which I have “no patients” as I transition to my new job. In previous years, in the 2-4 weeks prior to Thanksgiving, I would spend time determining recipes, finding time to shop, and figuring out where we would be for dinner. In all these years, I would practice “traditional” Thanksgiving endeavors. But this was also the time of year I encouraged all of my patients...
Inspiring & Encouraging Women Surgeons Blog
by Minerva Romero Arenas, MD, MPH It was only a month ago that thousands of surgeons met in Chicago for the annual American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. Just days before, however, over 150 women gathered for yet another Association of Women Surgeons conference. Medical students, residents, and attending surgeons met to present their scientific work, celebrate accomplishments, discuss professional development, and network. An inherent part of the meeting is the ongoing development of relationships and mentoring that goes on at all levels. We learned from first-year medical student, Sarah Armenia, about the power of this experience even at such an early stage in training. The importance of mentoring is highlighted by the variety of activities specifically organized at AWS & ACS for medical students, residents, and fellows - and even a high school students. The #ILookLikeASurgeon movement was coined by surgery resident, Dr. Heather Logghe, inspired from the #ILookLikeAnEngineer...
The Importance of Mentoring
Last month, the Healthcare Leadership Tweet Chat (#HCLDR) invited me to participate as guest moderator to discuss The Changing Face of Medicine. You can read the accompanying blog post here. The weekly Tuesday evening #HCLDR chat engages a diverse community made up of patients, medical students, doctors, surgeons, residents, nurses, healthcare executives, and many others with a shared interest in healthcare leadership. Some international colleagues also joined from Europe, the Philippines, and Australia.For many Tweeters, it was also the first time joining the #HCLDR Tweet chat. We were very proud to have the support of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS).The #HCLDR platform resulted in an engaging conversation on the importance of diversity in medicine. One question we discussed was how can we encourage women and other minorities to pursue careers in medicine/surgery or any non-traditional field?Among the many excellent responses, a common...
Creating your own academic timeline
by Christina Cellini, MD, FACS, FASCRS This topic came to me during a grand rounds given by a well-known surgeon in his mid-career - henceforth will be referred to as “WKS”. I had just returned from my second three-month maternity leave in two years and was looking forward to hearing about what advice he had to give. That morning WKS gave a talk about how he advanced academically starting from residency to his early attending years that eventually led to his promotion to associate professor. His talk was very informative, and he made a really big deal about being present for your family while trying to achieve your goals. All in all it was a thoughtful presentation. However a few things caught my attention and highlighted how everyone’s situation is unique. One piece of advice given was that one should constantly “be writing papers” and even to “get up at...
