reflection
Performance Punishment, Perfect Punishment?
By Jenna Kwon I heard about it for the first time during a recent meeting with my mentor from the AWS Mentoring Program. As I was telling her I wanted to dedicate more time to research, she advised me to ask my current research mentor if there were additional projects I could join, saying, “since good work gets rewarded with more work.” My immediate reaction during the meeting was, “I hope he thinks I did a good job so I can get more work.” After all, I both wanted and needed research opportunities. After the meeting, as I looked through my notes on a Post-it, I noticed that the phrase about good work being rewarded with more work was circled several times with a small, sloppy “??” scribbled next to it. How lucky would it be to get involved in a research project you are passionate about—and to keep getting...
Sci-Fi to Surgery: The life story of a Latin American surgeon
By: Alix Yurany Baez Ramirez, MD In an operating room, under a mask, you don't know the life story on the other side. What decision has made the person in front of him decide to enter the world of medicine? After all, we are all stories, the sum of our experiences, the sum of the dreams we had as children, the construction of longings or whims in adolescence, and the social and cultural realities that surround us to become and build those adults that we visualized as children. This is mine. To better understand the context of my story, it is important to consider higher education statistics in our region. According to UNESCO-IESALC (2020), higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has experienced an acceleration in the enrollment process, going from 23% in 2000 to 52% in 2018. This expansion is attributed to three main factors: an increase in...
Let it go!
By: Dr. Shruti Venkitachalam, Head and Neck Surgeon, Chennai, India It was an early morning surgery. I was the second assistant, retracting for a neck dissection. After almost three hours of retracting, I asked if I could get a five-minute break. The prompt reply was, “Why? Are you pregnant?" I was appalled and embarrassed. The others in the OR giggled. It made me cringe. He didn’t pause to think before saying that, and I was embarrassed - not him! Since completing my fellowship training, I have worked with only male superiors in different hospitals. I saw them as ‘surgeons’ and not as ‘male surgeons’ – until certain situations forced me to look at them that way. Years passed and faces changed but the story remains about several ‘hims’ and me. One morning, ‘he’ gave me several tasks to do. I scrambled to finish them but was late for the clinic....
Sustainability, and Beyond…Another Case for the Resurgence of Private Practices
By… Erin King-Mullins, MD Sustainability has become a critical concern across all sectors, and the healthcare industry is no exception. While large hospital systems often grab headlines for their sustainability initiatives, private medical practices are emerging as unsung heroes in the quest for a more environmentally friendly and sustainable healthcare system. Physicians and trainees are grappling with tough decisions regarding the type of employment. One of the many concerns pertains to sustainability (including self-preservation). Let's explore how smaller, more agile entities are making a significant impact in this arena. Reduced Energy Consumption Private practices typically operate in smaller spaces compared to sprawling hospital complexes. Whether by using smaller office spaces and on site staff, or performing operations in ambulatory surgical centers, this inherently leads to lower energy consumption for heating, cooling, and lighting. In my practice, I utilize a virtual medical assistant to help with patient callbacks, scheduling and many...
Becoming part of the pathway
By Shaidy Moronta, DO I march along to different appointments with my elderly grandparents—a normal routine for first-generation non-English speaking immigrants. We prefer to serve as the primary interpreters for our family. In many cases, this is our first introduction to the medical field. In other cases, it is where we find our life’s calling. I recall a particular appointment with my Abuelita for a colonoscopy screening. The doctor, an African American man who led a very pleasant appointment, tried to explain the plan in Spanish as best he could. My Abuelita began to weep immediately. She was in this country for less than a year and was navigating the foreign world of medicine in a language she could not comprehend. This was the first physician who tried to speak to her in her language. At that moment I realized just how important it was to feel seen, to be...
Breaking Barriers: My Journey As A Female Img And How The Association Of Women Surgeons Fueled My Surgical Aspirations
By Yashjot Kaur From a small town in India to the vast medical community in the United States, my journey as an International Medical Graduate (IMG) has been one of resilience, discovery, and growth. When I decided to pursue a residency in the U.S., I had few opportunities available. As a first-generation medical student, the first in my family to ever take an international flight, and from a background where neither of my parents spoke English fluently, my journey has had many peaks and valleys. In my first year of medical school, I fell in love with anatomy. As an artist at heart, surgery combined my passion for art and anatomy. Crafting mandala art, with its intricate designs and attention to detail, mirrors the precision required in surgery, and, very much like art, surgery provides me with an opportunity to work with my hands. When I decided to pursue a...
From Scalpels to Swaddles: Unexpected Joys and Life Lessons Learned in Neonatology
By: Denise Nemeth Pediatrics has never been my forte. As a former Physician Assistant accustomed to adult care, the prospect of caring for neonates filled me with apprehension. No one really tells you how difficult it can be to navigate rotations. It is like having a new job each month. Each rotation: an unknown. With each rotation comes a new attending, new residents, a new building, new rules, and new expectations. Only those in medicine know what third year of medical school is truly like. During clinical clerkships you are expected to switch specialties monthly while mastering the learning curve within the first day, lest you be deemed the “slow one”. I can hold my own. I am a fast learner and can find my way through unspoken rules and new environments. But this time it was different. I was about to go into the world of tiny humans. The...
We Are Sorry, But You Did Not Match Any Position. What’s Next? A Perspective From An IMG.
By Gabriela Alvarez Pérez, MD The words " We are sorry, but you did not match any position " were not what I anticipated reading in March. I had envisioned relocating and embarking on my residency journey in the United States. However, life has a way of redirecting our paths. Faced with the unexpected, I had to reassess my next steps. Thankfully, I have a network of supportive physicians who have consistently championed my professional growth. Sharing the disappointing news was difficult, but their unwavering encouragement provided solace during those challenging days. After taking time to reflect on my experience and set new goals, I resolved to start afresh. This time, I am better prepared and more determined than ever. Self-compassion has been essential throughout this process. I've learned to combat self-loathing and lean on the support of loved ones. I actively sought guidance from my mentors, seeking advice on...
Surgical Rotations as a International Medical Student
By: Sarah Bueno Motter As an international medical student, doing elective rotations in the US brings us many challenges, but this experience also can open unexpected doors. I would like to talk about the good people we meet on this path. Seeing how people can help without knowing you well is very inspirational; they give us their best, taking our word as proof of commitment. The beauty is recognizing those people in your path and allowing them to help you. First, you must put yourself in their view and try connecting. Set up meetings, ask for conversations, ask questions, share your goals, and ask advice from the people you work with. We often focus on meetings with the PDs, for example, but we must remember the ones we are with daily. Ask your residents for feedback, and connect with them and other medical students. The medical staff, nurses, and surgical...
A Journey to Self-Acceptance and Surgical Residency
Alexis L. Woods, MD Being comfortable with my queerness is not something that always came easy to me. I grew up in a Southern household where homophobic comments were common. As a result, I had a lot of internalized homophobia as a teenager and I struggled to come to terms with being gay - leading down a winding road out of the South and to medicine. I was in denial for a few years, lacking positive queer role models. It was the 90s, and there were only a few queer women openly out and I didn’t identify with them. Emancipated at 16-years-old, I left my parents’ home, began working, and finished high school through a community college completion program. During this time, I could no longer deny I was queer, but I was closeted and spent a lot of time wishing I wasn’t gay. In my early 20s, I found...
