By Andrea Merrill In residency, we had a nightly event called “9 o’clock meal”. Born out of a former surgery resident threatening to expose our measly salary to the local newspaper, every nig...
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Happy Five Year Anniversary, AWS Blog!
By Jane Zhao It has been FIVE years since we launched the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS): Inspiring & Encouraging Women Surgeons Blog. AWS launched the blog during a time when there were Z...
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Finding the Leader Within
By Jennifer A. Villwock When I think about the development of leadership during my medical training, I immediately recall residency, where my faculty was 100% male. I learned many lessons from thes...
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Do you dare to be you?
By Dr. Jaime D. Lewis Do you dare to be you? Have you taken a chance on yourself to live out your dreams? To be true to the voices inside your heart? When was the last time you trul...
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Succession is the key for change
By Susana Vargas-Pinto I recently had a casual conversation about fellowship with one of our Chief residents who matched into cardiothoracic surgery, which lit up my curiosity and expectation. “I...
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What is the surgeon’s role in preventing gun violence?
During my pediatric surgery rotation, I distinctly remember taking care of a teenage girl who presented with a thoracic cord transsection and paraplegia after a drive-by shooting; she had previously l...
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Balancing Act: Not Letting The #GymGrind Grind You Down
[caption id="attachment_16743" align="alignright" width="300"] The Santa Hustle Half Marathon on a chilly, windy Galveston day in December 2016[/caption] “Everything in moderation” is one of th...
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National Minority Health Month 2018: Together we can achieve health equity
"To eliminate disparities, we must know enough (research); do enough (deliver the outcomes); care enough (commitment); and persevere enough (do not get discouraged)." David Satcher, MD, PhD, Direct...
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The Dickey Amendment: Low-Hanging Fruit
In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, the national discussion about gun violence has been reignited as evidenced by the subsequent student-led protests ...
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Difficult Conversations
I’m a trauma and critical care surgeon. I deliver bad news. It’s not one of the perks of the job, but it’s one of the very important parts of my job. I have seen it all. The full spectrum of emo...