It’s Dear Pat’s anniversary! This month marks the one-year anniversary of the #DearPat column, which was created in 2018 as a collaborative effort between the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) Resident and Fellow Committee and the #AWSBlog committee. This column was designed as a forum for residents and fellows to share their experience as trainees, ask for advice from AWS leadership, and spark a conversation on the matters facing surgical trainees today.
#DearPat, is named after Dr. Patricia “Pat” Numann who founded the AWS in 1981 when she invited all the women surgeons she could find to breakfast at the October meeting of the American College of Surgeons (Read more about AWS history here). From its inception AWS served as a place for women surgeons to share common experiences, interests and express their concerns. Over the years Dr. Numann has continued to provide advice and she continues to inspire our resident and fellow members with her stories and anecdotes of surgery. The #DearPat blog is a tribute to Dr. Numann’s legacy as evidenced by the numerous AWS Council members who volunteer their time to respond to our column and share their helpful advice to other women surgeons.

During this past year we have covered topics such as applying to fellowship, mentorship, family planning, work-life integration, teamwork, implicit bias, how to have difficult conversations with colleagues, dealing with grief, among others. This past year has been full of highlights.
We are excited to see DearPat continue to grow. Thank you to the AWS leadership for your continued support, AWS members, especially the residents and fellows who continue to ask for DearPat advice.
This recurring column is published on the fourth Sunday of each month. #DearPat answers questions about residency, fellowship, life after training, and focuses on issues pertinent to surgical trainees. Questions may be submitted anonymously and are answered by AWS council members. We want to hear from you, if you are interested submit your Dear Pat question here.
Patricia Martinez Quinones is a general surgery resident at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, and a doctoral candidate in Physiology. She plans to continue her career in academic trauma and critical care surgery. Patricia serves as the resident chair for the AWS Blog Committee and the Resident and Fellow Committee Vice-Chair. She is a doggy-mom and wife who is passionate about self-care, running, and healthy-living. You can find her on Twitter at @PMartinezMD.
Our blog is a forum for our members to speak, and as such, statements made here represent the opinions of the author, and are not necessarily the opinion of the Association of Women Surgeons.