#ILookLikeASurgeon Update

By Dr. Marissa Boek

The #ILookLikeASurgeon movement aims to celebrate diversity in surgery to show that a surgeon, in fact, can look like anyone. The response has been overwhelming, awe-inspiring, and unifying. This is about challenging stereotypes (not solely gender-related), celebrating differences, and achieving equality in the workplace. If you haven’t joined in, there’s never been a better time!

Brief background:

Building off the #ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign, it all started on 8/5 when surgery resident Heather Logghe asked the Twitter-verse if #ILookLikeASurgeon would be next. It was literally the tweet heard ’round the world, as to date there have been over 13,000 tweets with nearly 34 million impressions (Check out more stats here) in 20 languages from over 75 countries. And that’s not including other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. The movement has been endorsed by many of the big medicine and surgery organizations, including Association of Women Surgeons (AWS), American College of Surgeons (ACS), The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCS), the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS), and so many others. Here’s a brief round-up of the response over the last 9 days (and please add if I missed anything!):

Storify by pre-med student Jasmine Miller – a compilation of posts

Tagboard for cumulative, real-time data visualization across all social media platforms

Media coverage:

8/11 BMJ Careers: Female Surgeons use Twitter to challenge stereotypes

8/12 Today Show Health & Wellness: Female surgeons raise awareness about women in medicine with #ILookLikeASurgeon (Reposted by People.com)

8/12 Boston Magazine: Boston’s Docs Show Support for the #ILookLikeASurgeon Hashtag

8/13 NY Daily News: ‘I Look Like a Surgeon’ hashtag takes off after ‘I Look Like an Engineer’ movement that celebrated women in STEM

8/13: iDIVA: Female Surgeons Sun Stereotypes About Women in Medicine with #ILookLikeASurgeon

8/14 Boston.com: What does your surgeon look like? Female doctors take to Twitter for change

8/14 BBC News: Female Doctors Saying “I Look Like A Surgeon”

Blog posts:

8/7: Allies for Health: #ILookLikeASurgeon Tweet It. Own It. By Dr. Heather Logghe

8/8: Dr. Nikki Stamp: Why women in surgery need other women in surgery – #thisiswhatwelooklike and #ilooklikeasurgeon. By Dr. Nikki Stamp

8/10: KevinMD: #ILookLikeASurgeon I am a surgeon and this is what I look like

8/11: Allies for Health: What does #ILookLikeASurgeon really say about surgeons around the world? A Call to Action. By Dr. Ed Fitzgerald

8/12: Allies for Health: Humanizing the Profession: Patient perceptions of #ILookLikeASurgeon. By Terri Coutee

8/13: Allies for Health: #ILookLikeASurgeon: The Hardest Part. By Dr. Chris Porter

8/13: Evolution of a Female Surgeon: Lessons I’ve learned Along the Way. By Dr. Genevieve Boland

8/14: Allies for Health: #ILookLikeASurgeon: We can do it!!! By Dr. Paula Ferrada

8/14: Behind the Mask: I Look Like a Surgeon, and #ILookLikeASurgeon. By Dr. Kathy Hughes

8/14: Deanna J. Attai: #ILookLikeASurgeon. by Dr. Deanna Attai

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