Today is not about plastic surgery per se. This is more a pep talk to any women medical students out there, or other female plastic surgeons. There was a recent Op Ed article in the New York Times “Don’t Quit this Day Job” by Dr. Sibert. It has led to many lively discussions among my friends in the Palo Alto area, particularly my other doctor friends. Her article focuses on women doctors and having a family. This blog is not to discuss her article.
I gave a talk to the Stanford residents a couple weeks ago. I love Stanford. I trained at Stanford. But as I stood in this room I was struck by something… I couldn’t put my finger on it… and then it hit me. I was the only woman in the room. One came late to the meeting, but the ratio was 30:2. (Currently in medical schools the medical student ratio is 50:50.)
When I applied to Stanford for residency many moons ago, there were few combined general and plastic surgery programs. It was uber competitive. I was told in my year the combined plastic surgery program at Stanford had 500 applicants for 4 spots. I got one of those spots.
What attracted me to Stanford and part of what I loved about Stanford was its support of women surgeons. Particularly back then, there were not many of us. When I was on the interview circuit for surgery residencies, a handful of women applied to each program. And women already in residency? Women attendings? Almost none. Some residency programs bragged they had never had a woman surgeon graduate.
I was inspired by a woman I met during that time: she was an attending Plastic Surgeon at Stanford, had three children, and was nice to boot. I didn’t have to invent this wheel. How you can have a career you love (plastic surgery) and still have a family is a path already paved. And there were 1 or 2 female residents in many of the residency classes ahead of mine.
It is a tough road. Surgery consistently ranks among the most stressful professions you can choose. But if you love to be in the operating room, it is the only place to be. I am lucky. I love my job. I love my patients. It is hard to get through the premed classes in college, the four years of medical school, the 5+ years of residency where you are locked in the hospital, the board exams. While others were cavorting in their 20s, I was studying and working. It is a lot of stress, hardwork, and growth. But when you emerge, you can do something you love.
For more in this vein, which in many ways applies to all working women, please see:
Should Women Be Doctors? A well written article by Lisa Belkin about Women Doctors addressing Dr. Sibert’s article(and by the way, the answer is YES, women make great doctors, but we may need to redefine the workplace model.)
Torn, True Stories about working moms