Ep 52: The Silent Struggle of Women Physicians
Meet Our Guests:
Dr. Arghavan Salles is a bariatric surgeon at Stanford University. She is a Special Advisor for DEI Programs for the Department of Medicine, and Senior Research Scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research. She is also a keynote speaker, researcher, and writer, focusing on topics like gender bias, physician well-being, and COVID-19. Dr. Ariela Marshall is a hematologist and Director for Women’s Thrombosis and Hemostasis at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Marshall’s research has also touched on gender bias and physician work-life balance. Dr. Salles and Dr. Marshall were recently featured in The New York Times for their comments on the unique fertility challenges women physicians experience.
In This Episode:
Dr. Marshall and Dr. Salles share a candid conversation about physician fertility. Both wish they had been given more information about fertility earlier and been encouraged to think about what they wanted their family to look like. We discuss the demanding nature of medical training and the lasting effect it can have on the body. In our current system, juggling a full-time job, or training, as well as fertility treatments is physically, emotionally, and financially draining. Institutions need to change both policy and culture around fertility. Additionally, the focus is often on women, but men face fertility challenges as well, and should be part of the discussion. Before we are doctors, or any career title, we are people.
Key Moments:
- The time commitment for an M.D. (3:22)
- Think about family planning earlier (12:13)
- Fertility treatment experience (14:28)
- How medical training needs to change (19:31)
- Bringing men into the fertility conversation (30:23)
