\u201cI\u2019d be careful there\u2026 it\u2019s a total boys club.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first piece of advice I received when discussing an\ninterest in emergency medicine. Passive, vague, (unsolicited unfortunately) and\noffered for one reason and one reason only, I had expressed interest in a\npredominantly male specialty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early medical school is a strange time. As a student you are\nsuddenly bombarded with questions that you aren\u2019t sure how to answer: What is a\nP-wave? Where is your stethoscope? Why didn\u2019t you check the patient\u2019s vitals? The\nmost difficult of which is always, \u201cWhat do you see yourself doing with your\nlife?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first time I answered the \u201cwhat specialty\u201d question and\nwasn\u2019t met with bubbling enthusiasm, I didn\u2019t think much of it. I wasn\u2019t\nlooking for opinions, I was a young woman revved up for an exciting career and\nthe feedback of one man was not going to slow me down. Hilary Clinton! Beyonc\u00e9!\nThe #MeToo era! I was ready to wave my feminist flag and march into whatever\nspecialty I damn well pleased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah . . . I\u2019m sure all be alright,\u201d I replied smugly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If only my confidence was as stubborn. What my copy of The Second Sex<\/em> failed to mention was\nthat it wouldn\u2019t be the first comment that got me, it would be the fiftieth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be my male peers calling physicians by their first name\nand raised eyebrows when I attempted to do the same. It was rumors of a\nclassmate who only wants to work with male physicians, and news articles\nconfirming a local EM attending carried the same preference. It\u2019s thinking\nquietly to myself that it can\u2019t be a coincidence all of my male peers are a\n\u201cgood fit\u201d for trauma, while I should probably consider family medicine\ntraining for a little more \u201cflexibility.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Half way through medical school and suddenly my feminist\narmor didn\u2019t feel quite as strong. It had failed to protect me from discussions\nof my reproductive future, and I was one more patient comment away from taping\na 1. NOT A \u201cGIRL\u201d 2. NOT A NURSING STUDENT sign to my ID badge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not to say that every experience was negative. I love what I\ndo, and I am lucky enough to have met incredible, supportive male mentors\nthroughout my training. But their messages of encouragement can be difficult to\nappreciate amidst a mountain of subtleties informing me otherwise. Medicine,\nmedia, and the local hospital\u2019s promotional material, all seemed to convince me\nthat the ideal physician was not an eager young woman, but a doctored-up\nversion of Fred from Scooby-Doo. Someone outgoing, tall, with a good haircut or\nstrong jawline, who is particularly good at giving other people instructions. I\nfelt compelled to mold my own leadership style after this feigned image of confidence\nand bravado, regardless of what felt comfortable for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Until I walked into the first hospital room where standing\nat the foot of bed was not Fred – or any other male character for that matter –\nit was Velma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Intelligent, prepared, thoughtful. Lightning fast but always\nin touch with her patient in a grander context. Rarely the loudest voice in the\nroom because she didn\u2019t need to be, everyone on the team was already listening.\nHer quiet leadership left the trauma bay that day and planted an unshakable\ndrive in the forefront of my brain. I wasn\u2019t watching another attending or\nsuccessful career woman from afar, I was watching where I could be in fifteen\nyears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having female mentors for medical students is important.\nGroundbreaking I know, but hear me out. At the onset of medical school I was\nconvinced that an awareness of my identity meant representation was something\nthat would not affect me, and I was wrong. I am not immune to sexism or\nself-doubt \u2013 no one is \u2013 and when faced with both having someone I identified\nwith to reaffirm my own potential was the best form of encouragement I could\nreceive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Representation matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the next time someone tells me \u201cit\u2019s a boy\u2019s club,\u201d\nI have living breathing evidence that there are people who came before me\nchanging the culture that came before them. That the next time someone forgets\nwhat I am interested in and assumes it is OB (not because of my outstanding\nprenatal skills) I can remember an attending who weathered those comments and\nwent on to teach me to do the same. And when it comes time for me to select a\nspecialty it will be because it\u2019s something I am passionate about and something\nI am good at, not because it is something that I think is possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I know it\u2019s possible. I already have the proof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u2019s make sure that proof keeps on coming. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019d be careful there\u2026 it\u2019s a total boys club.\u201d The first piece of advice I received when discussing an interest in emergency medicine. Passive, vague, (unsolicited unfortunately) and offered for one reason and one reason only, I had expressed interest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":781,"featured_media":12750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"MD Candidate @le_beals reflects on why representation matters to the next generation @McMasterU @TChanMD @ShannonOMac @TheSGEM ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5],"tags":[93],"coauthors":[906],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n