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This Side of Doctoring: Reflections from Women in Medicine - Paperback | Diverse Reads

This Side of Doctoring: Reflections from Women in Medicine

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Throughout history women have practiced the art of medicine and healing. Yet they have always faced difficulties in the medical profession—not only have they struggled to gain acceptance from their male colleagues, they have also struggled to find a balance between being a doctor and being a wife and mother.
Here, in This Side of Doctoring Eliza Lo Chin offers a penetrating analysis of what it's like to be a woman in the highly competitive field of medicine. Written over the last century and a half, this collection of personal stories, poems, essays, and quotations reveals the intimate lives of over a hundred female physicians. There are touching testimonies from early 19th-century medical pioneers like Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate from medical school and Harriet Hunt, who had her own practice that catered to women and children yet was never formally trained, to modern-day medical students and doctors.
Poignant and compelling, these narratives offer insights into the struggles and triumphs of women in medicine. Much like an American quilt, this book is a unique and richly textured patchwork of each woman's extraordinary life and career. This assemblage of so many different voices exemplifies the varied paths that women have created within the medical profession. Together they stand as an enduring tribute to the dedication of all women physicians to both their patients and their families.
"These accounts of doctoring and family concerns are universal enough to transcend gender in relationships with patients and colleagues, balancing work and family, and finding meaning in one's profession.... For those looking for a compendium of experiences that document the lives of a diverse cross-section of women in US medicine, This Side of Doctoring is a fine addition to the literature."—The Journal of the American Medical Association

ISBN-13: 9780195158472

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publication Date: 05-15-2003

Pages: 432

Product Dimensions: 8.00(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.20(d)

Eliza Lo Chin is a general internist and former Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

What People are Saying About This

Janet Dollin

Janet Dollin MD CCFP, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Director, Office of Gender & Equity Issues, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
This book is a must read for its wonderful compilations of stories. Lately, I've been struck by how much my life as a family doctor is full of stories. this book reminds me that I am definitely not alone on this journey of story collecting. It has beautiful stories of being a doctor, mother, wife, daughter, teacher, learner, mentor, mentee and of trying to find balance between all of these complex and demanding roles. I can identify with becoming a "flat out blur, praying for no traffic" as I shift between roles. I can appreciate hearing the stories of others as they navigated internship, residency, and making career choices along their career paths. This Side of Doctoring is recommended reading at any stage of your career."

Table of Contents

Foreword xxi
Acknowledgments xxvi
Introduction xxix
1. Historical Perspective 1
2. Early Pioneers 11
Glances and Glimpses 11
Letters from Elizabeth Blackwell 12
In the Words of Mary Putnam Jacobi 13
The Fortress 14
Some of My Life Experiences 14
From More Than Gold in California 16
From Mine Eyes Have Seen 17
Petticoat Surgeon 17
From A Child Went Forth 18
Fighting for Life 20
From Bowery to Bellevue 21
A Woven Fabric 23
Woman at the Gate 25
A Woman Doctor Looks at Love and Life 26
The Antique Roadshow of a 90-Year-Old 27
Sound Investments 29
The First Women at H.M.S. 29
I Will Not Pass Away 33
The Beginnings of Women's Health Advocacy 34
From Chivalry and Off-Color Jokes to Acceptance and Respect 32
Medicine and Motherhood 36
Medical Internship 40
3. The Formative Years 45
A Youthful Encounter 45
From Kitchen Table Wisdom 48
Anatomy Lesson 51
Cold Hands 54
Here Is What I Learned 56
Jane 56
Circumstance 62
From the Deccan Plateau 63
Song of the Dying Ova 64
How I'll Become a Good Physician 67
A Gift 68
Thirtysomething Meets ER 70
Freckles 72
Summers With My Aunt 74
The Discovery Clinic 76
4. Life in the Trenches: Internship and Residency 79
Unknown Alpha 79
Birthday 83
How I Survived Residency 85
Necessary Journeys 86
Post-Call 89
We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Men as Medical Mentors 90
Whine List 94
The Only Night I Cried 96
A Long Road 97
A Time for Change: Innovative Pathways for Residency Training 100
Lamentation of the Female Academician 102
But I Do Care 106
5. On Doctoring 109
In Between Before and After 109
Heartsick 112
My Patient, the Doctor, and Me 115
Heart Doctor 118
Common Ground 119
Dawn 126
Life Force 127
A Doctor Alone With Her Decision 128
Through the Eyes of a Physician 130
Why You Came to Me 132
Generations 134
Finding Beauty in Annie 142
A Visit to the Doctor 144
Job Description 147
6. Mothering and Doctoring 151
Mutual Benefits 151
Doctor's Daughter 152
Conversation Hearts 157
Monday Morning 158
"mommydoc" 159
A Mother's Prayer 164
On Being a Medical Mom 170
Tsunami Baby 171
A Patient's Wife 174
The Transition Game 175
Interview for Clinician-Educator Position 176
Spiderlings 177
Teeter-Totter 180
Breast-Feeding: Straddling the Fence Between Work and Home 181
A Reminiscence 183
The Second Road 184
Patients as Patron Saints 185
Mother's Day 188
"To Love and to Work" 189
Balance 189
Numbing Down 192
Maternity and Medicine 196
Parenting Without Pregnancy 196
Body Snatcher 198
Redefining Motherhood 200
Taking Children Seriously 202
7. Making Choices 205
Finding the Balance Point Between Overdrive and the Mommy Track 205
Between Lawn Cuts 207
Not Having Children 210
Missed Opportunities 214
Taking Stock 214
Life Choices 215
Composing a Life in Medicine 215
On Packing for the Information Superhighway 217
Thoughts on Time Management 219
8. Barriers 221
Glass Ceiling 222
Why Don't You Quit? 223
Woman in Orthopedic Surgery Stories 223
Life in the Boys' Club 226
Professionalism 229
The Feminization of American Medicine 230
An Interview Tale 230
Not Easy to Please 231
On Reaching Visible 232
Triple Jeopardy 232
A Minority Perspective 234
My Path Through Medical School 236
The Life of Women in Medicine 237
Leave 238
Emotional Conflicts of the Career Woman 239
Kath's Graduation 242
An American Experience 242
A Warm Gesture 243
A Lesbian Voice: What Does It Mean to Be a "Dyke Doctor"? 246
9. Connections 251
The Doctor in the Family 251
Tobacco, Tulips, and Terminal Care 255
The Friendship of Women 260
A Doctor in the Family 262
The Two-Casserole Test 264
The Cafeteria 267
Memories of Our Mother 268
10. Balancing 271
August 1994: Letter to My Student 272
Balancing, Juggling, and Other Feats 273
Juggling the Personal and Professional Life 274
Workday Mornings--Three Weeks 274
Where Is the Self? 275
The Multitude of Little Things 275
Is It Worth It? 276
Can It Be Done? 276
A Few Thoughts on Part-time Faculty: The Push for the Summit and the Long Climb Down 281
Centered in the Deep Connections 283
An Independent Scientist 286
How to Do It All at Once 290
Late Lunch 292
Balancing Family and Career: Advice From the Trenches 294
One Page at a Time 297
To Rachel 299
Pregnancy and the Professional Woman 299
The Changing Role of Physicians as Working Mothers 300
Reflections on Balance 303
Notes From a Personal Journey 304
11. Our Families' Perspectives 307
Jelly 307
From Balm in Gilead: Journey of a Healer 308
Our Medical Marriage 309
From Her Infinite Variety 310
What's a Mother For? 312
Life With Mother, the M.D. 314
What We Have Fashioned Together 315
I Remember as a Child 316
Renuka Gera 317
12. Reflections 319
The Feminization of Medicine 319
Double Helix 320
Identity Crisis 321
A Personal Journey 321
My Experience as a Woman in Medicine 323
Scopes, Hopes and Learning the Ropes 326
Defining Ourselves 329
Looking Good 329
What It's Been Like 330
Reminiscences of My Medical Career 330
Enjoying the Moment 333
Navigating the Maze of Academic Medicine 335
From Teacher to Psychiatrist With Family 336
Generation to Generation: Mother-Daughter Physicians 337
Afterword 343
Glossary 345
Resources for Women in Medicine 355
About the Editor 357
About the Contributors 359