Editor’s Note: An event during orthopaedic surgery training that defined a career pathway and a philosophy for living.
Over two decades ago, my beloved father had a heart attack at age 57. Sadly, shortly after hospital discharge, he suffered a cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated. The event occurred in the middle of the night while I was in the operating room. My sister called to give me the news. We urged the paramedics to bring him to the hospital emergency department where I was working so I could say goodbye. It happened to be his birthday and thankfully, I had called him before scrubbing. Amazingly, his time of death was approximately the same as his time of birth.
My family and I were devastated. The university, where he was a professor, had not provided adequate life insurance coverage to sustain a family. In addition, my mother did not work full time, my sister was still in school & I was a fourth-year orthopaedic resident. As a result, I got busy and prepared to become my family’s primary breadwinner.
My father raised my sister and me to be strong women. He felt that women could do anything and there were no limits to what could be accomplished. He encouraged my mother to pursue her PhD while raising children. He was a promoter of DEI (editor’s note: DEI denotes Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) before it became a public focus. It was through his inspiration and my mother’s incredible motivation that we made it through the past 27 years since his death. I work in private practice with a part-time voluntary academic affiliation and have held orthopaedic leadership positions in various organizations. I enjoy my career immensely.
My primary message here is to always place family first. Orthopaedic surgery is hard work. We devote a tremendous amount of time focusing on it during our training and our careers. No matter how many hours we have studied and worked, in the end, what remains is family. Do your job well but never neglect your loved ones. Work hard while in practice to position yourself so you can control your time.
I never had concerns about my ability to become an orthopaedic surgeon. In practice, I have cultivated positive relationships with my colleagues. I greatly enjoy the mentoring and teaching I do. I relish the opportunities to advocate for patients, trainees, and peers. If I were beginning my career again, I would reach out to develop more academic network opportunities. I enjoyed participating in research work as a resident and fellow. Today, more women are still needed in academic orthopaedics.
Remember, life doesn’t give you an option when tragedy strikes. You must go on and survive. Move forward and bring your family with you. The question is, can you do more than survive? Can you thrive?