Ode to Female Physicians

The highlight of my week was an evening out with my fellow female physicians. We are a group of Pediatricians, Internists, Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Anesthesiologists, Cardiologists, Psychiatrists and Ophthalmologists. 

We are also writers, book authors, speakers, researchers, fashionistas, leaders, globetrotters, home chefs, charity organizers, foodies, entrepreneurs, family members and friends.

We talked and shared stories.

We have saved lives yet also lost lives.

We have delivered good news and delivered bad news.

We were called to serve in Medicine yet also sustain its burden.

We face sexism and misogyny daily.

We are overlooked professionally because we are women.

We are held to conflicting double standards.

My own personal story: I declined to see a patient who showed up late beyond the grace period. It was the last patient of the day. I was asked to stay late to see this person. Then I was told that I did not accept the feedback in a positive way because I wasn’t “bubbly.”

Are men ever in danger of not “being bubbly?!”

Yet.

We. Still. Show. Up.

A sisterhood has been created. 

We strive to empower each other and lift each other up.

We are amplifying each other’s voices.

This movement is just getting started!