Editor’s Note: This account demonstrates the power of determination to achieve life’s goals, at any age!
“I began my orthopaedic practice at age 47.”
My first career was as a computer programmer after having been a math major in college. I met my husband while doing this work at a well-known company. After some years, I needed a change. I tried business school for one week and social work school for one month. Neither was a good fit. Then, one night in 1973 I awoke and proclaimed to my husband: “I should have been a doctor!” I was then 36 years old, and we were raising two sons.
My father was a physician, and I distinctly remember him telling my brother and me, “don’t be doctors.” So, when I began premedical studies, I kept him in the dark. Later when I was accepted into medical school, I reluctantly let him know. I told him I remembered his warning. He said, “I never said that. What I said was, don’t do medicine unless you really want to be a doctor.” Case closed.
My husband, who reluctantly learned to ski because I so dearly loved it, introduced me to orthopaedics. He was landed upon by another skier who was jumping over a large mogul in a “no jump zone.” My husband was on the downhill side and was out of the sight of the jumper. Sadly, he sustained a fractured ankle. The orthopaedist who cared for him in the ER let me “follow him around” in his office during my last free summer as a second-year medical student. I was curious about my husband’s care and also about the practice of orthopaedics. My plan to become an obstetrician-gynecologist was replaced by my new love of orthopaedics. The rest is history.
I was accepted into an orthopaedic surgery residency in 1979 after only one other woman had gone through the program ahead of me. A member of the department encouraged me by saying: “Orthopaedic surgeons don’t need to be big and strong; they need to know which instruments to use, how to use them and when to ask for help.” In thinking back, he was an enlightened individual, especially for the time. There were very few women in orthopaedic practice or training in our large metropolitan area. He was taking a chance with me. I think some of his colleagues may have thought so as well.
I successfully finished the residency program and began an academic practice at age 47. My post was at an outlying hospital and involved doing a lot of trauma which I came to love. I also enjoyed teaching the residents.
I left my work in academia briefly to sample private practice. The unpredictability of scheduling surgeries and office work in that environment was unsettling and hard on the life of my family. I returned to my previous post appreciating it more.
There were some lessons to be learned along the way during my 27-year orthopaedic career. I applied for the Director of the Orthopaedics Department at my hospital along with another colleague. I felt we both were capable. The position went to the male. Later, a new man was hired to do the same work I was doing. I was tipped off that his salary was higher than mine despite my seniority. I went to discuss it with the administration and was given a raise.
During my career, I sought to improve the lives of the attendings by making changes in departmental procedures. I looked ahead and counted the numbers of staff orthopaedists available for clinic so an appropriate number of patients could be given appointment slots. Over time, my efforts began to be ignored so I decided it was time to retire. I did so at age 73. Thereafter I did consulting and legal work, which primarily involved making reports and no patient care. At age 88, I still do a bit of this.
Would I do my career over in the same way? Yes, in terms of my choice of orthopaedic surgery as a specialty. I truly enjoyed the work.
My advice to young women contemplating or entering a career in orthopaedics is as follows:
- If you want to do it, do it.
- Pursue what you like best.
- Do your job.
- If you are married and have or want children, you need a cooperative spouse. You can’t do it alone.
- You must work for what you want.
- You can do what the men do.
- Don’t get put in a corner.