Women who become doctors must often choose between motherhood and medicine. I’m a mother and a surgeon. I never thought of choosing between the two, even though my employers often asked me to. Today I work as a trauma surgeon in a busy practice. It’s b…
Category: surgery
The pale, very sick girl in the emergency department
An excerpt from A Mistake: A Novel. “Hello there,” Elizabeth said, leaning over the girl, smiling. “Hello. Hello Lisa.” The girl looked up at her accusingly. “My name is Elizabeth Taylor. Please call me Liz. I’m the consultant surgeon, and this is my r…
Why we need more transplant physicians
During the 25 years I’ve been a transplant doctor, I’ve cared for hundreds of patients who received lung transplants. I’m now worried about the growing number of people who will need this lifesaving procedure in the future but who won’t have enough tra…
The dangerous medical liaison
She placed the stack neatly aside with all forms diligently signed and dated. The inbox was cleared. Being finally rested, her tasks of staying on top of duties and focusing on executions became briefly easier. A few patient callbacks, an eight-page di…
The dangerous medical liaison
She placed the stack neatly aside with all forms diligently signed and dated. The inbox was cleared. Being finally rested, her tasks of staying on top of duties and focusing on executions became briefly easier. A few patient callbacks, an eight-page di…
The surgeon who underwent surgery: How being a patient changed him
I lay on my side while my father probed the space between my buttocks, looking for an opening in the incision. I was in bed in the guest room of my house, which had been converted into my room for the last two weeks while I recovered. My father, a surg…
Gender bias in medicine: What can women physicians do to overcome it?
The United States has been a slow brewing cauldron of gender bias for years. With increasing tensions and an unspoken, formidable energy in most workplaces and educational institutions, women have grown restless. The culmination has and is resulting in…
The orthopedic objectification of women
A recent uproar in Twitterverse regarding the publication of certain images has sparked further debate after the response from publishers. The images represent scantily clad women with socially “ideal” body-types, seductively eyeing the cam…
It takes a village to be a physician today
After my second child was born, I realized a harsh truth: I could not be everything to everyone. It took me almost 30 years to understand this. I was working as a full-time physician with unpredictable hours. I was trying desperately to make it all wor…
A successful physician who is also successful in business
Successful and happy physician. But why stop there? What about successful businessman as well? This is my story. And I’d love to share it. Maybe it’ll inspire someone else who works in health care. I am very blessed. I am actually living out my childho…
