Two years ago I received a WDS Career Development Award to study the topic of “Women and Mentoring” with Mary Maloney, MD. Mary kindly let me stay at her home in Massachusetts for two weeks and in the evenings we would sit and mull over the topic. I remember trying to compile a list of what I considered to be the challenges female physicians face during their careers. Although not entirely exclusive to females, the list I produced was as follows: Marriage/partnership Children-upbringing, education Health of self (e.g., infertility, menopause; health of spouse, children) Health/death of parents Development of own career and balance of this with career of partner Interpersonal-relationships with colleagues, nursing/administrative staff Household-maintenance

Deborah MacFarlane MD, MPH

For the majority of us the main focus up until graduation had been our education. For some of us this had involved the sacrifices and challenges of leaving relationships, states and even countries to pursue our goals. Now that that had been obtained, “career development” was the next focus. However, this was where the real challenge began. Before we just had to pass the familiar obstacle course of exams; now we had to juggle the points on the preceding list, but there was no exam to let us know if we were on the right track. No wonder it felt difficult.

I remember trying to prioritize the list. What would be the most stressful event on that list? Personally, death of a parent seemed high. The following day I learned that my father in New Zealand had been diagnosed with widespread cholangiocarcinoma. He was the person whom, until I met my husband, I was closest to on this earth. I was truly devastated. Dad had apparently pushed my pram through Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, past the hospital grounds thinking then, before I could even talk, that he’d like me to be a doctor, but had never told me of this dream until I graduated from medical school. I finished the remaining week with Mary, gave my talk at the AAD for Madeleine Duvic, MD and spent ten days with my parents. As the doctor in the family, I had to liaise between medical staff and my family; a role familiar to a lot of you. My dad died several days after my return to Houston and I worked the day he died; all those years of putting patients first.

Shortly thereafter Mary asked me to write a chapter for Advances in Dermatology. I have to admit I forgot about the deadline. We have no other relatives in New Zealand and I had been concerned about my mother. Feeling completely incompetent I asked Suzanne Olbricht, MD, another mentor, who was now the editor if I could write the chapter for the following year. The chapter was written, submitted to the publisher, then recently I became very sick — too sick to proof the draft. The publishers said they understood and they would get it proofed. Not telling me they’d send it to Suzanne!

Around this time a female medical student whom I was personally mentoring suddenly lost her mother. I had known that her boyfriend had serious health problems and that she’d been trying to spend as much time as possible with him. When she cancelled her rotation with me and forgot to tell me I have to admit I was a little irked.

However, I got to thinking that as women, we know better than anyone else the challenges other women face; we really don’t need to have men understand things from our perspective. A male can understand something like childbirth in theory, but we can’t expect them to ever understand the emotional or physical components of the process. It occurred to me, too, that we tend to judge other women by our own high standards. “Why couldn’t she complete the job when I’m dealing with my own issues and I get things done?” We need perhaps to be more forgiving of each other and to communicate to other women the circumstances or reasons for our inability to meet deadlines on occasion. I don’t mean: “I had PMS, I couldn’t make the meeting...” more: “I had a miscarriage and I’ve felt so sad I’ll need an extension on that deadline.”

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Women are compassionate by nature and I think if we can communicate our emotions with each other and not keep them stoically to ourselves as we imagine men do, we’ll function better in the workplace. With that in mind I called Suzanne and explained the circumstances of my illness; I could sense her immediate understanding. If I hadn’t made that call, she’d have been too polite to have said anything but would never have understood and I would have lost an opportunity to communicate with someone whose opinion I value. Similarly, I called the medical student, lightened her load and she’s just recently finished a very productive and mutually enjoyable rotation with me.

It’s all too easy sometimes to talk about “glass ceilings” hindering career development. Women can act as resources for other women, however we need to communicate openly with each other and to treat each other with compassion. So I would therefore like to encourage my fellow Women’s Dermatologic Society members to use the strengths we have as women — our compassion and communication skills, to better understand and aid each other in our own development and progression through this lifestyle we’ve chosen.

Article featured in the May 2007 WDS Newsletter.


Mentorship Program Mission and Goals:

• To promote the concept of mentorship within the WDS.
• To establish long-term relationships between mentors and their protégés.
• To promote projects with a clearly discernible plan supporting career development.

Mentorship Program Requirements:

• All applicants must be members of WDS (may be in the application process).
• Protégé must attend the WDS Annual Luncheon to receive the award.
• Each mentor can have a maximum of two protégé applications.

How to Get Started:

• Choose a mentor. Ask for a letter and commitment for an agreed-upon time frame.
• Get a letter of support from your chairperson and arrange for the necessary vacation or covered time in your program.
• Complete your Online Application

This grant program generously sponsored by: Dermik Laboratories